


Toss a Coin and Make a Wish, Darling

by BlueKingAndGreenKing



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bottom!Harry, Cute, Fluff, M/M, Mixed with canon, Model!Harry, OT4, OT5, Some Abuse, after hiatus, basically the Original Male Character is a douche, it'll make sense when you read it, non-consent (mentions), some smut too, some ziam - Freeform, teacher!Louis, top!Louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-02-11 11:49:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 60,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12934653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueKingAndGreenKing/pseuds/BlueKingAndGreenKing
Summary: Louis knows his relationship with his husband is slowly falling to pieces since the hiatus ended. In what seems like the final straw, with a little bit of magic thrown in the way, he accidentally wishes for something that would seem to make his life easier... Until it becomes true.Or...Where Louis wishes to have never met Harry, without realizing wishes can sometimes have consequences.





	1. Wish Coins and Bullshit

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! :) This is my first story ever, so if you're reading this, stranger, just know that I deeply appreciate it and love you for it. I am in no way expecting this story to be anywhere near perfect. It is my first, I repeat. However, if you do continue to read through further updates, I hope it is an enjoyable journey. I know I had fun writing it!  
> That is all.  
> Hope to see you next time :)

Louis knew the conversation was bound to happen at some point. He just did not expect it to happen so soon. He was low-key hoping Harry would forget about it so he wouldn’t have to give him a clear answer. But that was obviously too much to hope for. Obviously.

“We’ll talk… after the show, alright?” The green-eyed boy gave him a small smile.

“You guys ready? We’ve been lookin’ for ye for ages,” Niall’s head peeked through the door opening. Louis glanced at the clock hanging on the dressing room. Almost show time.

“Ready.”

“Let’s do this then.”

Louis could already hear the thousands of screams outside. _Here we go._

 

It had been their 15th performance after the hiatus, according to Liam’s count (Louis swore they had only performed 14 times, but oh well), and it had been another success. The hiatus had been long, yes, but as promised, the band was back. And quite some things had changed since the return…

For starters, less sleep. Since One Direction had officially announced the end of their break, tons of interviews and shows started to pop up and even though Louis loved the band with all his heart, it also stressed the shit out of him. Out of all of them, really. But oh God, it was so worth it. Louis had always preferred being surrounded by his three brothers… Well…, two brothers and a husband more like. Which brings the other big change.

An expired contract.

This had been the main talk between him and the lads, especially between him and Harry. No contract meant they could finally be free and love each other without having management always stepping on their toes. There was only one teeny tiny problem… Louis was not ready to come out yet. He tried convincing himself a million times (It’s what you’ve always wanted, you idiot, just close your eyes and go for it) but the truth was he wasn’t brave enough. Gosh, he hated not being as brave as his husband. Harry would’ve come out already if it weren’t for him. Harry wanted both of them to come out together, and Louis felt like a huge disappointment whenever the topic was brought up because, at last, when the moment arrived, he was not ready.

For that reason, he had been evading Harry as much as he could these last few days. He also hated that about himself (you’re not only a coward, you also make your husband feel like shit by not being around him. Fucking prick).

But the topic was bound to come up again, and now it did.

After the 15th (cough, 14th, cough) show, Harry approached him. There wasn’t anywhere else to go now.

“Hey…”

“Hey.”

Pause.

_Talk to him, you idiot._

“Er…,” Harry started after what felt like hours, “Can we… talk? About… you know…”

“Sure.”

They left the small after-show party that was going on right in the middle of Liam’s speech and walked through the exit at the back, without being noticed or followed. The hotel at which they were staying, “The Duchess”, had a terrace with a wonderful view of the city down below. Since the party had started at the terrace and then moved downstairs, there were still plastic cups and confetti all over the place, causing Louis to chuckle a bit.

“What a mess,” Harry laughed as if he had read Louis’ thoughts (Louis always thought Harry had a power for reading Louis’ mind). “The hotel workers are probably hating us right now.”

“We’ll blame it on the speech maker.” That caused Harry to laugh. Ah, what a beautiful laugh. He suddenly realized they hadn’t laughed in a while… At least not alone.

They passed a small fountain at the center of the terrace and reached the end of the balcony. Louis didn’t notice the fountain when the party started, maybe because there were so many people. But now it was just him and Harry. Everything seemed magnified now. He could see the fountain. He could see every light from every car down there, he could almost see through every window…

“It feels so nice to be up here,” Harry said. _There he goes again with his mind reading skills._

“It does.”

Louis could feel Harry’s eyes drilling holes through him but he did not dare meet his gaze.

“Louis, look at me please…”

He turned around against his will and exhaled soundly, knowing what awaited him.

“Have you thought about it?” Harry asked. His voice was sweet, not demanding, which comforted Louis a lot. “About coming out?”

“I… You could say I have,” he said. A small smile formed of the taller boy.

“And…?”

Louis’ heart sank. It took a full minute before he shook his head slowly. “I-I can’t do it, Haz.”

Harry’s smile faded instantly. The hurt in his green eyes made Louis want to throw himself out of the terrace right then. “Why not?”

“Because!” It came out a bit harsher than he intended. He tried again. “Because. I am not like you, babe.”

Awkward pause.

“What does that mean?”

“I’m not brave like you. I care about what others think of me way too much, and fuck, I hate it! I hate being judged, and I am judged enough as it is. Fuck, I wouldn’t be able to live with it!”

Louis felt his voice grow steadily louder as he spoke. He was actually surprised he said it out loud. There was something red and angry growing up inside him, and even though he didn’t want to let the beast all out while talking to Haz, his husband’s kind and understanding smile was making it worse. Why could he not be as good as Harry? Why did he have to be so fucking insecure all the time? He was about to explode.

“I know it’s hard,” Harry whispered. Just then Louis realized how close they were, Harry hunched down, foreheads touching. Harry’s hand caressed his cheek slowly, clearly trying to calm Louis down. “People are always gonna judge, love. But I’m here with you. Liam and Niall are here, your family is here… You’re not alone, Lou.”

“Easy for you to say.”

Harry let go of Louis’ cheek and backed away a little bit. He looked hurt.

“Haz, I-I’m sorry, that’s not…”

“Why do you think that, love?”

“I don’t think that.”

“You said it though, so there must be something.”

Why was he always so calm for Fuck’s sake?

“Y-You don’t care, Harry! You’re not even one tenth of how insecure I am! It’s easy for you to say ‘hey, everything’s gonna be fine’ and then take all the shit, but not for me, okay?”

Louis backed away from the edge of the balcony and walked toward the fountain, seating on its edge. Harry walked nearer but did not seat next to him. Instead, he stayed still, right in front of the smaller man, his colorful patterned suit a focal point in the night.

“Is that why you’ve been avoiding me lately?”

Louis looked up now. “I haven’t been avoiding you.” _Yes, you have, you prick._

“Yeah right,” Harry said. “We barely speak at night. You don’t come down to dinner sometimes. Not avoiding at all.”

“Don’t sass me out, you lil’ shit.” Harry chuckled, but Louis could tell there was a hint of annoyance in him.

“Alright,” Harry said after another of those awkward pauses. “You are moody tonight, mister. I’m just gonna give you and the fountain of wishes some alone-time, then.”

Louis frowned at that. “The fountain of what now??”

“Of wishes,” the taller lad said matter-of-factly. Seeing that Louis had zero idea what he was talking about, he elaborated a bit: “The lady at the front desk gave us the wish coins, remember?”

Oh, that.

The old lady at the hotel’s receptionist table had in fact given all four lads their “wish coins”. It was some sort of hotel attraction. The fountain on the terrace (same one Louis was seating on right now) was supposed to make your wish come true once you threw the coin in. Not just any coin, though. It had to be the special hotel coins, golden and with a crown (emblem of “The Duchess”) on it. But that wasn’t all; the wish coins also had an expiration period of one week. Any wishes after the week would not come true.

Bullshit, Louis thought.

Liam and Niall had already tossed their coins earlier during the party, but Louis and Harry kept theirs. Louis obviously couldn’t care less about some kids’ fairytale crap, so he had not even looked at the coin when the lady gave it to him. Harry, apparently, was more into the magic of it all.

Harry always believed there was magic in everything. Even the stupid little things.

“Here, make a wish.”

Harry extended his hand with a golden coin toward Louis.

“You must be joking,” Louis said. He didn’t know why exactly, but he felt pissed.

“I’m not. Come on, lighten up, Lou. Let’s make a wish together.”

Louis wanted to grab him by the collar of that patterned suit and throw him into the fountain. How did a serious conversation turn into a fucking fairytale so fast?

“I’m going back inside,” Louis stood up.

“Lou…”

“For real, Harry.”

Harry reached for his arm and spun him around. Louis could feel his face grow hotter by the second.

“What did I say…?”

“You wanna play fucking Disney right now, really?” Louis was almost screaming now. It was all so stupid, yet right now it felt like too much. “I’m talking about something very important to me, to us. And you wanna talk about a fucking wish coin?? You keep your magic, I don’t need that shit. I need to have a serious conversation with you, not this.”

Harry looked truly hurt now and Louis hated seeing him like this. Harry still did not raise his voice though.

“I’ve been wanting to have a serious conversation about this since the contract expired, Lou. I wasn’t the one trying to ignore it, remember.”

“Oh so now I’m the one to blame. Nice.”

“Well, technically-.”

“Oh don’t give me that! Sorry for not being like you, Mr. Harry ‘Never-Insecure’ Styles.”

_Styles._ Yikes. That was not what he called him when they were alone…

Green-eyed Mr. Tomlinson looked at blue-eyed Mr. Tomlinson.

“Why are you being such a dick, Louis? I’m just trying to help.”

“No, you’re not! You’re just here because you want to come out to the public. You. Not me. It’s all you, you, you!”

“You know that’s not true!”

They were both raising their voice now. Louis knew this was not going to end up good.

“Oh, really?” Louis said before he could stop himself, “Are you telling me you would like to wait another year before we come out, since you’re all up for my best? Is that it?” Harry opened his mouth but quickly closed it again. “That’s what I thought.” He started to walk toward the stairs, but stopped in his tracks and turned around once more. “You can come out without me, you know. It will kill the burden, I guess.”

“And then what? A male beard for me?? I don’t think so.” Harry’s eyes were starting to get teary.

“Well, at least there’s no baby for you!”

There was a small pause at that. Louis was finally letting his anger out, that anger he had been growing inside him since months now.

“We both have it rough, Louis,” Harry was about to cry now, “so don’t act as if our suffering is all one-sided.”

“Are you gonna compare what I’ve been through to stunting with Victoria Secret models? Do not even think about it, Harry.”

That seemed to finally calm Harry back down again. When he spoke, Louis saw he was trying to be as sweet as he could. “I know you’ve taken any sort of stunts, Lou… I am not questioning that. But we’re both going through shit, and we can make it better if…”

“For fuck’s sake, just SHUT UP!”

Harry blinked, startled.

Louis snapped.

“STOP MAKING IT SOUND EASY, HARRY! FUCK. Nothing is easy, nor will it ever be! Our lives are a big fucking mess!! This hiatus was a fucking mess! Even OUR RELATIONSHIP is a fucking mess sometimes! It used to be so much easier back when we were kids, or even before that! Before X-Factor, before all the bullshit!! Sometimes I wish _THIS_ HAD NEVER HAPPENED!”

A few tears escaped Harry’s watery eyes. “So y-you wish you hadn’t met m-me?”

“YES!”

As soon as Louis said it, he regretted it so much. He did not mean it, he would never mean that, ever. He loved the boy so much, and even though, yes, their relationship had been going downhill for quite a while, Harry was the only consistent blessing in his life, with the rest of the lads. A wave of guilt crashed inside him. Harry was paralyzed, completely still, tears wetting his face. At loss for anything to say, Louis made some steps toward his husband. Harry backed away.

“Haz…”

Harry looked at his own hand, the golden coin still at the center of his palm. Then, to Louis’ surprise, he turned around and dropped it in the fountain.

“There,” Harry said, voice breaking. “Maybe your wish comes true now.”

And he left.

 

Louis stayed on the terrace for hours before deciding it was too late and he was ready to get some rest.

He walked down the stairs checking every corner in case he found Harry. Instead, he found Niall, who looked in pretty good shape despite having a notable number of beers inside his system.

“Tommo! There you are. I was actually gonna go up there and drag you.”

“How’s the party?” Louis mentally hoped Niall would not bring up Harry.

“It ended a while ago, mate.”

“Guess I missed all the fun.”

Niall and Louis were very close friends, and even if Louis tried to hide it, Niall immediately knew something was not right.

“Is it Harry…?”

Fuck Niall for reading his mind. Everyone but himself could read his mind, it seemed.

Louis chuckled. “What gave it away?”

“I saw him leave the party early.” Louis nodded and continued his way to the room. Niall followed him closely. “I noticed you two are going at each other more often than not lately… What’s wrong?”

“Many things,” Louis sighed. Why was he being sweeter to Niall than he had been to his lover? “I feel like we’ve been drifting apart since the hiatus started in the first place, if I’m being honest. And now… I just made everything worse.”

“Hey. Each of ye has been working on your solo stuff all this time, that’s why… It’s hard to get used to it again.”

“It’s not hard with you or Liam though.”

What Louis did not need at this moment was to also break Niall’s heart. He knew his friend loved the band more than anything, and if Louis gave him an idea about all four of them not working correctly as a group anymore…

“We’ll be okay,” he said to change the mood. They reached the adjacent rooms (one for Liam and Niall, the other for Harry and Louis). “I’ll talk to Haz in the morning.”

Niall gave him a small comforting smile. They shared goodnights and entered their respected rooms.

It was dark inside the hotel room, with the exception of the lamp on the bedside table. Louis dropped the keys and his jacket on top of the sofa. It was a very nice, first class room now that he thought about it. He would be enjoying it if it were not for the war of thoughts going on inside his head.

After he took off his shoes, he tiptoed to the bedroom. The bedside lamp that was on was the one on Harry’s side. Louis couldn’t help but fond at the sleeping figure on the bed. Harry (still fully dressed, weird enough) was in fetus position, one hand falling off the bed side. His phone was lying on the floor. Louis guessed he had fallen asleep while looking at his phone screen, not even bothering to take off his suit. Upon coming closer to him, Louis saw some of his dark curls plastered to his face. Harry had cried himself to sleep. Louis felt like absolute shit.

_He’s got enough of me for one night, he thought._

Turning off the lamp on his way out, he closed the bedroom door slowly behind him. He stripped down to his boxers and threw himself on the sofa.

_Tomorrow’s gonna be better._

 

Louis heard an alarm go off right next to his ear and automatically slammed his hand over it.

They didn’t have any interviews or shows today, why had he forgotten to turn the fucking thing off?

Not even opening his eyes, he felt the soft surface of… the sofa? No, that couldn’t be right… He was sleeping on the bed alright. His mind became more awake as he realized Harry, waking up before him, must have taken him to their bedroom. Maybe Louis hadn’t completely fucked things up. He smiled at the thought and opened his eyes.

The light coming from the window flooded the room and he was completely blinded for some seconds.

Still half-blind, he stood up from the warm bed. Harry’s side of the bed was still unmade.

Louis walked toward the bathroom inside the room. Out of habit, he washed his face on the sink. And…

“AHHHHHH!”

Louis slipped and grabbed hold of the bathroom counter before falling. He then got as close as he could to the mirror, his face in shock.

No tattoos.

_What the fuck._

He looked again at his naked torso. Then at his arms. He even peeked inside his boxers to see if his bum tattoo was there. All gone.

“What the-??”

He hoped this wasn’t some kind of disease, as dumb as that sounded. His breathing was forced. _Gosh, please don’t be a disease._

Louis heard the lock of the front door click and a rattle of keys.

“H-Haz?” He called.

Louis opened the bedroom door. Not only the hotel room looked entirely different, but also the man who stepped into the room was definitely not Harry…

_What the fuck have I done?_


	2. Rare New World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello darlings :)  
> So I've decided I'll update every other day (if there's a change in that schedule, I'll let you know).  
> Anyway, enjoy!
> 
> PS: This chapter has some zouis feels, and I miss them now.

“Hey babe, I’m home! H-.”

“WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?”

Louis grabbed the first object he saw—a napkin holder—and held it high at arm’s length. The stranger (a tall blonde with blue eyes) stopped walking and stared at him in shock. It was hard to tell who was more surprised.

“Babe, it’s me, D-Dean…”

“I don’t know any Dean, kiddo. Tell me what the fuck I am doing here before I call the police.”

The man, Dean, raised his hands and let go of the keys on top of the counter. He slowly moved around the counter toward Louis.

If the stranger had meant to cause him harm, Louis figured he could do it in a matter of seconds. Not only was this Dean taller and more muscular than Louis could ever hope to be; he was also on a better position: nearer the kitchen, where there were tons of knives and utensils he could use as arms. And Louis only had a useless napkin holder.

“Put that down, Louis.”

Okay, so Dean knew him.

“Where am I?” Louis repeated through gritted teeth. “Where’s Harry?”

“Wha-? It’s your apartment! Who the hell is Harry??”

Louis’ head was spinning. He felt he was going to faint. He lost his balance and Dean rushed to his side before he fell down. Louis quickly regained as much composure as he could and untangled Dean’s strong fingers from his waist.

His _naked_ waist.

Remembering he was still in boxers (meaning, he was naked in front of a man that was not his husband), Louis ran to the bedroom and locked himself in. He needed to think some things over.

The last thing he remembered from last night was his fight with Harry. It had been such a stupid fight now that he went over it in his mind, and Louis wished he had realized this sooner. And talking about wishes… But that couldn’t be. That fountain could not really make wishes come true. That was bullshit, Louis had clearly stated that before. Yet he couldn’t find any other reason he would end up in a new apartment, with a complete stranger, with no tattoos. How had he ended up with no tattoos?

_I’m dreaming, that’s all._

_But am I though?_

It all felt way too real to be a dream, Louis knew that.

He took a deep breath and then went to the closet, where he took the first pair of jeans and t-shirt he saw, and got dressed. After all that time wearing tracksuits during the hiatus, the tight jeans felt foreign to his skin. He glanced at himself in the mirror. His bum was much accentuated now, and he had to admit he had missed how it looked. The wine red t-shirt complimented his skin tone. He hadn’t looked this good in ages.

_Alright, stop complimenting yourself and get moving, you dumbass._

First things first, he thought.

He looked over at his bedside table. There was a phone charging there, and Louis assumed it was his, since he had been sleeping on that side of the bed not too long ago. He took the phone and turned it on. Fortunately, a password was not required.

Louis started scrolling through his contacts. So far, he didn’t know anyone, which he should have expected considering there was a stranger waiting for him on the other side of the door. He found his sister’s name on the list, but he didn’t need to talk to Lottie right now. He was specifically looking for anyone of his bandmates, because they were there at the party with him before all this mess. They had seen the fountain. He had more chance of them knowing what was going on than any other person.

Not surprised, he didn’t find a “Harry” contact anywhere. Nor a “Niall”. Or a “Liam”.

_Fuck. Now what?_

Just as he said it his thumb got to the very bottom of the contact list…

Zayn.

Under any other circumstances Louis would have rolled his eyes a bit. Truth was, since Zayn had left the band, they hadn’t talked much… They did not end up in extremely friendly ways. Louis still cared a lot about his former bandmate though, but he was shit at showing much emotions whenever Zayn’s name popped up. Except now.

He thanked the universe for letting him find a contact he could use right now. True, he would still have to explain to Zayn how he got into this mess anyways, since Zayn hadn't been at the party either, but a start was a start.

He pressed “call”.

There were five rings, and then the line went to an answering machine.

“No, No, No…”

_“Hi there! You’ve reached Zayn Malik. I’m not here right now, I’m probably out there doing shit… Leave a message and I’ll get back to you.”_

Louis sighed in frustration. What a bad luck he was having.

“Hi, Zayn. It’s me, Louis… Just… Call me back when you can, okay? Bye.”

Right. That didn’t work.

Louis threw the phone on top of the bed. He looked around the room and took in his surroundings.

Now that he wasn’t sleepy and his eyes got used to the brightness of the bedroom, he could see it was nothing like the room at the hotel. This room had a much nicer homey feel to it. The walls were light blue. The mattress a darker blue. There were pictures on the wall of his family, of old school friends, some of him when he was a kid, some diplomas even… And there was also a picture of Louis kissing a smiley Dean on the cheek, while the blond muscular man extended his arm to take the picture.

Oh God.

_This can’t be happening._

Louis walked toward the wooden desk near the window. A laptop laid half opened on top, and he sat across from it, turning it on.

Password.

FUCK THIS!

He was about to give up when he spotted a sticky note on the side of the desk.

“DonnyBoy28.”

_Seriously??_

He rolled his eyes and typed it in the password bar, and the laptop showed him the desktop. Bingo.

Louis was now aware that his hand was actually shaking. It was all his fault, somehow. The fountain, illogical as it may sound, had made Louis’ wish come true, and now—his stomach contracted—he and Harry had not even met.

He still knew Zayn for some reason. That comforted him a bit.

Google popped to the screen and Louis went for the search bar. He had an idea of what was going to happen, but he typed “One Direction” in there anyways and pressed Search. As expected, the internet had no recollection of a band called One Direction. That probably explained Louis’ sudden lack of tattoos (he was never for skin art before the band started, and he had actually been against tattoos completely at one point, until 1D). Louis tried a different approach. Maybe the lads had made it as solo artists… He typed his name first, just in case, but “Louis Tomlinson” was clearly a nobody in this alternate reality. He then typed “Niall Horan”; no results. “Liam Payne”; zero. “Zayn Malik”; another nobody.

Finally, he had the name “Harry Styles” positioned on the search bar. He closed his eyes and pressed the button.

A results page filled with images of Harry’s gorgeous face as well as websites with his name appeared.

“YES!”

Louis clicked on the first website he saw, ‘Harry Styles Official’.

There were links to Harry’s social media and whatnot. Louis knew Harry never used social media though, so he ignored those completely and instead clicked on the Info tab.

Apparently Harry was a model now. Louis didn’t find anything about a singing career, or even a singing talent. He felt a bit disappointed about that, to be honest. He knew Harry’s passion was singing; his Haz belonged on the stage, with a spotlight and thousands of screaming fans in front of him. Sure, he also loved acting and modeling, but Louis still felt Harry as just a model was underrating his talent in an enormous amount…

He continued to read more about this new version of his husband. Louis couldn’t contain his smile when he read Harry was openly gay in this new world. He also couldn’t help but feel sad. After all, it meant Louis was the reason Harry couldn’t come out to the public in his real life. This alternate Harry didn’t have anyone to hold him down.

After the Info page, he went to the Events tab.

There was a picture of Harry, his hair short but starting to grow again, curls covering the contours of his face. His green eyes popped out even more due to the green eyeshadow he was using. Louis’ hand moved in instinct and caressed the screen.

Next to the picture, there was a message in big, cursive white lettering: _Madame Catwalk and After Show—Sunday—Starting 1:00 PM._

Louis checked the bottom right hand corner of the monitor. It was 8:35 AM, Sunday. That gave him a little over five hours to get ready.

He took a screenshot of the page displaying the full address and description of the fashion show and clicked Print. The printer under the desk made some noise and finally handed Louis a copy of the page.

Perfect.

Louis had completely forgotten about Dean by the time he came out of the room. The blonde man was seated on the couch, watching a football match and he turned the TV off once he saw Louis.

“Babe, what’s wrong? Why did you scream at me like that?”

Louis could see this Dean guy was truly not a bad person. He was obviously confused, just maybe not as confused as Louis was… Either way, Louis figured he had to play the part with him, since Dean was clearly his boyfriend in this other universe, and explaining the truth to him would only be a waste of time. He mentally cursed the fucking fountain of wishes to oblivion before pulling off the nicest tone he could manage in the situation.

“I… I had a nightmare… B-Babe,” the word felt like poison in his mouth, “Don’t worry, I’m much better now. Sorry,” he added as an after-thought. Dean didn’t seem very convinced, but he gave him a smile.

“You scared the shit out of me.”

“You didn’t look scared just now,” Louis said. His sass escaped him. It was true though. The man was just watching football like nothing had happened.

“Was it a test…?” Dean did seem a bit scared now.

“If it had been, you wouldn’t have passed, now would you?”

_Okay, enough with the sass._

“What is up with you today, really?” Dean asked, frowning. “Do you want some breakfast?”

Louis was not hungry, but he agreed just for the sake of it. He sat down on the round table, a coffee cup in front of him, the printed page laying face-up next to him.

As Dean walked around with the toasts, the blonde man managed a peek into the paper next to Louis. He chuckled humorously and sat down on the other side.

“Are you into fashion shows now?” Dean raised an eyebrow.

Louis snatched the paper from view.

“Maybe,” he said.

Dean laughed. He then signaled to the paper now tucked in Louis’ hand, displaying Harry’s printed face. “I thought it was a crime to have that clumsy bitch on a catwalk.”

Louis almost choked on his coffee. He put the cup down rather harshly on the table, making Dean jump on his seat.

“What the fuck did you just call him,” Louis put it as a statement instead of a question. His skin grew hot. He wanted to punch Dean in his perfect face.

“But yesterday you said-”

“Get out,” Louis ordered. Dean stood up but did not move. “I said out!”

The smaller man shoved a very confused Dean out of the apartment and closed the door harshly on his face. He didn’t care if the man had no idea of what was going on, no one treated Harry like that in front of him. No way.

Louis finished his coffee and sighed. He had a lot of catching up to do.

 

From what he had researched, Louis started to put down some of the puzzle pieces in place.

He started looking through videos of the X-Factor, where One Direction was supposed to have been formed. He found videos of Harry, Niall, Liam, and Zayn. All of them had made it as far as the bootcamp, but then they were kicked out of the competition instead of being placed in a band. The judges had said there was something missing in them, even if put together. That something was clearly Louis.

He never believed he was very important to the band, especially during the X-Factor era… But apparently Louis was important. Without him there was a voice missing, and the band felt incomplete. Without him, there was no One Direction. Louis smiled a little at the thought of him being essential to the band. It was comforting, even in the mess he found himself in at the moment.

As to why this alternate version of himself had decided not to audition to the X-Factor, Louis did not know. The only thing clear was that Louis never going to XF had resulted in him not meeting Harry, which had resulted in 1D never forming, which in turn had caused Zayn to somehow still know Louis, and Harry being a supermodel. Did it make sense? No, it fucking didn’t.

The phone lying next to him on the bed started ringing and it brought him back from the moon.

,p>He saw the name “Zayn” on the screen and literally jumped towards the phone. He had never wanted to hear Zayn’s voice so much.

“ZAYN, THANK GOD!”

“Woah, calm down,” a voice on the other end of the line answered.

Louis felt like crying.

He and Zayn had not talked much since the former left the band years ago. Sure, they got in touch sometimes, but it never felt the same after that. Louis hated the awkwardness between him and Zayn nowadays, because they were actually really close friends before. Now, as he heard his friend’s voice on the line talking to him as if there had never been a fight between them, Louis couldn’t help but smile. His eyes got watery and he felt a knot forming in his throat. Fuck, he had missed Zayn so much.

“Umm… Are you still there?” Zayn asked.

“Y-,” Louis cleared his throat, “Yes! Yes, I’m here, I’m… Zayn…”

Zayn laughed. “You’re weird. I saw your message… What’s wrong? Why weren’t you at the meeting??”

Louis held his breath.

“Meeting. Right.”

There was a pause.

“You forgot, didn’t you?”

“N-Not technically…”

“What are you up to, you troublemaker?”

“It’s quite a lot to explain over phone, really…” Louis hoped Zayn wouldn’t think he was going insane. It was probably too much to hope for, but he had to tell someone. Zayn was his only option. “Can we meet somewhere? Like…,” he checked the clock on the bedside table, “as soon as possible, please? I beg you, Zayn.”

His friend sounded worried, but he didn’t hesitate: “Sure, Lou. Your apartment or mine?”

“Uh, mine.”

“Okay. See you in a bit.”

Louis sat back in bed and took a deep breath.

_There’s no fucking way this is gonna work._

True to his word, a confused Zayn Malik arrived at Louis’ apartment fifteen minutes later.

Zayn had not changed much since Louis last saw him out of this alternate reality. Same black, thick hair, charming smile, dark eyes, and ridiculously handsome face. Except he was wearing a white shirt with fine jeans and a tie. Louis chuckled at the elegant attire.

“It’s just for a talk, Zayn, you’re not here for a date,” Louis laughed as he ran to the dark-haired man and embraced him tightly. Zayn was taken by surprise at first, and then awkwardly put his arms around Louis’ shoulders.

“What is up with you today, man? I’m getting worried…”

“It’s okay, I’ll try to explain. Do you want…uh, tea?” Louis wanted to savor as much of the conversation as he could. He knew Zayn was never going to believe his crazy fairytale, and he couldn’t blame him.

“No, I’m fine,” Zayn said as he sat down on the sofa. Louis sat down on the space next to him.

“So…,” Louis said, “why the suit?”

“The what?” Louis pointed at Zayn’s clothes. “Oh… I was at the teachers meeting. Where you should’ve been.”

_Did he say teachers?_

Louis took a deep breath. He had to do this.

“Zayn. What I’m going to tell you is absolutely true, but also will sound absolutely crazy, and there’s a high chance you won’t believe a word of it.”

“Okay…”

Louis took all the time necessary to let every syllable sink in: “None of this is real.”

A small smirk formed on Zayn’s lips. “Listen Zayn,” Louis continued, “I know it sounds impossible, but you and I were in a boyband together. Us and three other friends”—Zayn’s smirk started to disappear—“and then you left… But that’s not the point! The thing is, I accidentally wished to have never met Harry, one of the three friends, and now the band was never formed and our friends are not our friends anymore. Follow me so far?”

Zayn stood still, not even breathing.

“I’ll take that as a yes, then… Okay! There was this fountain at the hotel, and Harry and I had a fight, and that’s when I accidentally—emphasizing ‘accidentally’ here—threw everything to shit. And now I need to put the pieces back together. That’s… That’s it, basically…”

There was a long pause. Louis did not dare to move.

“…Are you high?”

“What, no!”

“I mean,” Zayn said, laughing, “I don’t blame you! But you could’ve invited me too, just saying.”

“No, Zayn, I’m not high! I promise you. In fact, I kind of wish I were, so this would make some sense at least.”

“Alright,” Zayn said after some minutes. “It does not make sense. At all. Boyband? A fountain of wishes…? W-Who’s Harry?”

“My husband!” Louis said in frustration. Zayn raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“I thought you and Dean…”

“Forget Dean, I’m not even supposed to know him, Z! I actually broke up with him before you came.”

“Louis, what the fuck did you get bitten by?!”

This conversation was clearly leading nowhere. Louis tried the only other approach he had left…

“Niall.”

“Who?”

“Niall Horan. Does that name mean anything to you?”

“No…”

“Harry Styles.”

“Lou, stop!”

“Liam Payne!”

Zayn was going to say something, maybe try to stop Louis from shouting any other random names at him, but caught his air in mid-sentence. He frowned and shook his head. Then, as fast as it happened, any sign of recognition left Zayn’s face once again. When he spoke, his voice was calm, as if treating a child.

“Louis, I have no idea what you’re trying to get out of this, but this is not funny anymore. Snap out of it, Lou.”

“But I am saying the truth! I don’t know how to prove it, but-.”

Louis’ eyes wondered to the clock hanging on the wall. Between all the drama with Dean earlier, his hours spent researching what he had missed on in the last years, and his talk with Zayn, he had almost forgotten about the fashion show.

“I-I gotta go,” he stood up from the couch and went for the bedroom. He had already separated a wallet he had found inside one of the bags in the room. He wasn’t sure how much money was inside, or how much he would need to spend, but he took it just in case. He went back to the living room, where Zayn had stood up too, ready to leave the house. Before Louis was out the door, the dark-haired man grabbed his arm.

“It’s chilly outside, Louis.” He extended Louis a gray jacket that had been lying on the couch during Louis’ whole encounter with Zayn. Louis didn’t pay much attention to it before but now that he looked closely at it, he saw it was the exact same jacket he had thrown on top of the sofa the night before, right after his fight with Harry, when none of this had happened. The jacket had remained intact even if the rest of his world had gone down the drain.

_Rare new world this one_ , he thought as he took the jacket and closed the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SIDE NOTE: This story is also available on Wattpad for those who prefer reading there, idk :) It's by the same name, and my user there is also the same.
> 
> More Larry in the next chapter, I promise <3 
> 
> Thank you for reading, hope to see you next time!


	3. Scent of Roses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, loves! There's some cute flashbacks in this chapter haha I hope you like it

_Louis had already looked at himself in the mirror more times than he could count yet here he was, doing it again. Seating at the front seat of the car, he rearranged the hairs on his head, checking the result on the rearview mirror. It wasn’t anywhere near perfect, but as long as it did the magic, he figured he would be alright._

_He finally reached his destination fifteen minutes before the accorded time. He was never early, usually, but this time was different. He wanted to be punctual this time._

_He checked what he was wearing again—tight black jeans and a light blue sweater. The sweater was a bit too big for him, but he had chosen it specifically for some reasons: 1. It made him look very adorable, if he said so himself, and was comfortable for the occasion; 2. It was casual enough but also elegant, so it didn’t seem too flashy or too trashy, as his mom would say; and 3. It really made his blue eyes pop out and make anyone stare at them. Which was exactly what he wanted his date to do._

_Before coming out of the car, he looked at his 19-year-old reflection one last time._

_“I can do this.”_

_He got out of the vehicle and entered the front lobby of the restaurant. He was asked if he had a reservation—he did—and under what name, and after that he was taken to a small table for two at the back._

_He constantly checked his watch and his surroundings. The table was very isolated from the others, which was a good sign. More privacy, he thought._

_He had been looking over the menu for the fourth time that night when finally a pale, long-fingered hand lightly touched his shoulder. Louis jumped out of his seat trying to seem respectful, but ended up hitting his head with the fancy chandelier not too high above him. He felt himself turn red and all eyes on him. Only one person laughed however, and it was the most beautiful sound Louis had ever heard._

_“And then you call me clumsy,” a 17-year-old Harry said, helping Louis back to his seat again. Louis smiled._

_“That chandelier is almost touching the table, on my defense.”_

_The boy in front of him was also dressed in jeans and a baggy sweater—his was pink—and Louis laughed at how similar they were in some things. Harry’s curls were all over the place, which was just like Louis loved, and his dimple was decorating his face as always. Harry was simply beautiful, both in and out. Louis felt impossibly lucky._

_They just talked and laughed all night long, barely even touching their food. To Louis’ amusement, Harry did seem taken aback by how blue Louis’ eyes were, magnified by the blue sweater._

_This was very different from any other date they had, and they had quite a few. The others had mostly been in bars, clubs… maybe the beach in one or two occasions. But this time Louis felt it was different. He wasn’t used to the whole fancy-restaurant thing, but he wanted this to be special, more formal somehow. And up until then, only Louis knew why he wanted Harry to feel special: he was truly gone for the boy. He loved him. And soon Harry would know that too._

 

Louis detested travelling on the public bus, but he was already running five minutes late and he didn’t even know if he had a car in this new world, so the bus would have to do.

He kept thinking about his failed attempt to convince Zayn of the truth, and about how talking to Harry at the fashion show would probably still make no difference. Zayn had reacted different when Louis mentioned Liam’s name, though. He was aware of how close Zayn and Payno were, even after Zayn left the band, and Louis hoped Harry would somehow remember him a bit too. Given that they were married in real life, you know.

After a fifteen minute ride that was uncomfortably stuffed with the odors of the passengers, Louis got out in front of the building hosting the event.

Fortunately, there weren’t many requirements for entrance into the show. Only an ID (which Louis luckily found inside his wallet), and some general sale price that was fairly attainable. He wondered why the event was so cheap, considering many famous models were attending, according to the fliers. Only one of them, however, was the center of attention for Louis, and he had to find him before it was too late.

The models were already walking on the catwalk when Louis got there, every seat except the back ones filled. It was dark in there, only the models receiving the spotlight.

_He’ll never see me like this._

“E-excuse me,” he started moving up the rows of seats as quietly as he could. Many of the spectators threw unfriendly glances his way. He tried to keep a low profile by hunching down, but many heads were already turning… He finally made it to the front rows, and since there wasn’t a seat available, he kneeled on the floor, receiving even more glances.

_This won’t end up good…_

 

_After their dinner, they went right outside of the restaurant, where they had a flowered plaza all to themselves. Of course, Louis had to make previous arrangements for the plaza to be solitary at that hour, but with the growing influence the band was giving him and the lads, that was easily managed. He figured their management had hid them well, seeing there were not fans outside the front door either. Louis couldn’t care less about screaming fans at that moment, though._

_Harry was telling some story that Louis, lost in his thoughts, wasn’t paying much attention to. Harry noticed._

_“What are you thinking about, not listening to my very interesting narrative?”_

_They both laughed at that._

_“Sorry,” Louis said._

_“So…?”_

_Louis stopped walking out of a sudden. Harry turned around and faced him._

_They were under a huge tree now. The night, mixed with the shade of the tree, made it almost impossible to see. Louis took a few steps forward and slowly reached for Harry’s hand._

_“I…I have something I really want to tell you, actually…”_

_Even in this darkness, Louis could feel Harry smiling._

_“What is it, Lou?”_

_Louis breathed deeply. “W-What do you think of… you know… us?”_

_Harry squeezed his hand, sending a small shiver through Louis’ body. “I absolutely, madly, whole-heartedly enjoy this. Zero doubts,” he added with another smile._

_“That’s great! Um… I suck at the whole romantic shit, but…”_

_Harry laughed. “You’re doing fine, don’t worry.”_

_They stood there in silence for some seconds. If he was going to say it, he had to say it then._

_“Harry…”_

_Before he could form a sentence, a pair of lips were hungrily attacking him, a pair of hands pressing him against the trunk of the tree. Louis’ mind went completely blank. He caught up with his senses a few seconds later, and turned Harry around a bit harshly, now placing the younger boy against the tree. Harry’s hands were everywhere, and Louis took the chance to travel from the boy’s mouth to his neck._

_That maddening scent of roses that Harry always had around him filled Louis’ senses. He loved Harry’s smell, weird enough. Most people wouldn’t appeal to the smell of a person that much, but Louis certainly wasn’t ‘most people’. He wanted to get lost in that smell; to get lost and never come back…_

_He heard Harry inhale deeply next to his ear._

_“What were you going to tell me then?” Harry moaned when Louis left a sweet mark on the boy’s collarbone._

_“You prick,” Louis muttered, still pressing firm kisses. Harry laughed._

_Then, out of nowhere, as if he had been reading Louis’ mind during the whole exchange, Harry said it, almost in a whisper: “I love you.”_

_Coming out of Harry’s mouth it sounded even more perfect than Louis could ever put into words himself. It was the first time any of them had uttered the words out loud; it was what Louis had been trying to do all evening… Those three words brightened his heart like nothing else, and they opened a new stage in their relationship. Louis gave the younger boy a full smile._

_“I love you too, Haz. I love you very much.”_

_Harry’s dimples popped up. He then put his arms around his boyfriend. “Let’s get home, shall we? We can cuddle and watch a movie.”_

_“Cuddles and movies sounds nice,” Louis said._

_When they kissed again, it was not a hungry, desperate kiss like the previous one. It was gentle, slow, yet full (much more full, indeed) of meaning. Louis couldn’t imagine anything better. He just simply couldn’t imagine a life without this boy, without his scent of roses._

_Because they loved each other._

_That love was more powerful than anything, and he would **never** want it any other way._

 

Louis had been trying to keep a low voice as he talked with one of the security guards who was trying to get him to the back rows. Apparently seating on the floor during the fashion show was ‘disruptive’ to the audience, and he had been asked to move.

Louis tried explaining to the guard how important this was for him, but he wouldn’t fucking listen. Both Louis and the guard raised their voices a little bit more with each word, and the attendants were truly pissed.

If it had not been for a rose-scented smell that filled the room at that precise moment, Louis would’ve missed the model’s appearance.

But he didn’t miss it.

The smell came.

And Louis turned his head…

It all happened in slow motion, or so it seemed. Even the music blasting off the speakers seemed to change at the apparition. The lights dimmed and then turned a light pink color. Everyone collectively gasped… He was beautiful.

Harry’s big green eyes focused on the camera up front as he elegantly walked on the catwalk, his long legs making his trousers wave. He was wearing a white suit with—Louis almost had a heart attack at how splendid it looked—red roses all patterned across it, also flashing expensive high-heeled boots. As he walked, Louis could almost see the trail of that perfume that drove him mad.

“Harry!” Louis exclaimed out of instinct, almost.

The model’s eyes flickered a bit toward Louis, and for a second Louis thought he was going to smile or at least acknowledge him, but then the flicker left Harry’s eyes. He continued to walk until he got to the end of the catwalk, posed, and then turned around the same way he came…

“Haz!”

…And then Harry tripped.

It wasn’t a big deal, he just stumbled a little at hearing the nickname. Harry earned some chuckles from the audience, but continued unbothered until he disappeared behind the curtains.

Louis remembered what Dean had called his husband that morning: “A clumsy bitch.” Guess it was not the first time Harry tripped on a catwalk, and Louis expected it, knowing Harry. However, he still felt a pain in the chest knowing he had caused it this time…

“Sir,” the security guard repeated, making Louis return to earth, “I’m not gonna ask you again, could you please step back?”

“Y-Yeah, yeah… Sorry…,” Louis finally agreed. The man seemed content. He led Louis back to the last row, where he waited until the show ended.

Harry had appeared two other times, both equally beautiful.

If Louis concentrated enough, he could still smell the roses, even at the back of the room.

 

The show concluded before he realized, and the guests were led into the after-show party, which was held outside. Apart from the open space areas, there was also an enclosed saloon where Louis guessed most of the models would be hanging out at. That’s where he went.

As he walked among the attendants, he realized how poorly he fitted with the rest. His clothes (jeans, t-shirt and jacket) looked like nothing compared to the expensive designer clothes on all of the guests. He could as well walk around naked, and it would get him the same negative scowls he was getting now.

The interior of the saloon almost did not feel like an interior at all. It was decorated with plants pretty much everywhere, and the big glass panels on the walls let enough light in so as to seem part of the plaza outside.

The room was extremely packed, the crowd concentrating around the models. For the first time in years, the multiple paparazzi did not concentrate on him, which Louis was actually thankful for. It was the only great thing about this alternate universe: he could be himself without much trouble.

He actually located Harry faster than he thought he would… He was giving autographs and talking with the camera men, so Louis decided to wait a few minutes until he was done. Harry was the only model wearing the same suit he displayed at the catwalk—the white one with red roses—and Louis was content, because his husband looked absolutely breathtaking in it. He also looked…happy. It hurt Louis to admit it, but Harry looked happier than he had been during the last months. Maybe it was because he could be more open about who he was, kinda like Louis in this new life… Or maybe it was because he wasn’t married to an asshole. Louis tried to ignore the last option.

Harry finally separated from the group and went over to the food table.

_Let’s go._

Louis was shaking by the time he got shoulder-to-shoulder with the tall man. He pretended he was gonna get some of the food samples and purposefully bumped Harry’s shoulder, making it seem like a clumsy accident. That should grab his attention.

“Oh—Sorry, I didn’t see you there,” Harry smiled.

Louis blushed. Why did he have to blush now? It wasn’t the first time he'd seen Harry’s perfect face for fuck’s sake…

“That’s alright,” Louis said. He smiled to himself when Harry’s eyes did a double-take of Louis’ face, as if struck by the same my-husband-is-beautiful feeling Louis just had.

Then Harry’s eyes narrowed playfully.

“Hey… You’re that guy who was talking to the guard on front row.”

“Good memory! That’s me, yes.”

“You made me trip,” he smiled again. Louis used all his will power to restrain himself from diving into those precious lips right that second.

“You tripped on your own legs, as I remember it. I was there to witness it.”

He hoped Harry would get a grip on the sass. He did, and he loved it.

The food was completely forgotten.

“Aren’t you sassy.”

“Sassy is my middle name.” Louis knew it was super cheesy, but he also knew his Haz loved cheesy lines, so why not. If an introduction came next, he knew he had him hooked…

“We know your middle name, what’s your first name then?”

Points for Louis.

“It’s Louis,” he extended his hand. “Louis Tomlinson.”

The model flashed his white teeth again. “Pleasure. Harry Styles.”

Louis tried not to think too much about how odd it was shaking hands with the same person you shared a bed with.

“So, Louis, what brings you to the show? No offense but,” he glanced humorously at Louis’ attire, “you don’t really seem the catwalk type of guy.”

“Hey, you can’t say the shirt doesn’t look good on me,” Louis laughed.

“That is true,” Harry said, “you do look fine in it. Although, let’s be honest, you could make anything look good with that face.”

_Was that flirting, Harold?_

Louis blushed a bit.

“Thanks. Although, it was _you_ who I came here for.”

That took the model by surprise. Louis could see a small frown appearing on the beautiful face.

Just when Louis was about to elaborate on that thought, another man joined the conversation. He was taller than Harry even, making Louis seem like a toddler. He had dark thick hair and bright grey eyes, which complimented the light blue suit he was wearing. The man was in good shape, Louis saw. And he also had a very handsome display of features: straight nose, cheekbones, strong jaw...

Under any other circumstances, Louis would have blushed by just the presence of such a godlike man.

What the man did next however, made Louis want to fucking murder the guy and throw him under a bridge.

The stranger walked up to them, and without any warning, turned Harry around rather rudely and clashed their lips together. And it wasn’t just a clash of lips, no. There was tongue and teeth playing a part. The stranger’s hands grabbed Harry’s waist and pressed it against his, deepening the kiss. What was even worse than such a showy display of affection was that Harry never attempted to back away, and instead seemed to be enjoying the stranger’s tongue.

Louis wanted to puke.

After what felt like years, the man finally let Harry breathe.

“Hey babe,” he said.

Harry smiled shyly, kind of contradicting the not-so-shy display of just seconds ago. Louis’ blood was boiling.

“Who’s this?” the man asked once he laid eyes on Louis. Louis thought he detected a snarl in the man’s voice. Clearly Louis was the inferior power here.

“This is Louis Tomlinson. He was at the show earlier. Louis, this is…”

“Adel Weber,” the man interrupted. “I’m Harry’s fiancée.”

_His fucking what now?_

The man shook Louis’ hand. His grip was hard.

Harry awkwardly stared from one to the other. Both Louis and Adel were visibly throwing daggers out of their eyes.

“So, Louis,” Adel said, “what’s with the clothes choice?”

“It was a last minute thing.” Adel did not need more explanation than that.

Adel turned to Harry again: “They’re waiting for us at the tables, babe. We should get going.”

Harry sighed. “That lunch hour is gonna be terrible, I don’t know why you insisted on going.”

“Mrs. Ryan will be there. It’s a great opportunity, I thought we agreed on that.”

Louis hated being the third wheel. He cleared his throat. Harry grinned.

“Actually,” Harry teased, “why don’t we invite Mr. Tomlinson here? I’m sure he’ll love it.”

Both Louis and Adel raised their eyebrows in surprise. Louis had to hide his smirk.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, babe…”

“Why not? He’s my special guest.”

Adel’s face was red and probably releasing vapor. Louis had no idea what game Harry was playing at, but he liked idea of making Adel mad and of being closer to Haz. Besides, this could be a great opportunity to learn more about… well, about everything, really.

“I’m in!” Louis exclaimed, making sure to throw a murderous look at the giant prick.

Adel exhaled in frustration. “Fine.”

“Cool. Let me get my things and then we’ll be off, darling,” Harry said. He planted a kiss on the man’s cheek and then left, leaving Louis and Adel alone.

“I saw you talking with Harry earlier,” Adel said. “You two seemed content, do you know each other?”

“Something like that.”

“Listen, _Lewis_ …,” Oh, Louis wanted to punch him in the face now, “you stay away from my man, okay?”

Adel winked and gave Louis a “friendly” punch in the shoulder, which Louis understood to be close to a death threat. Then Harry came back with his hand purse and Adel put a fake smile on his face again.

“I’ll lead the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, loves! I love your comments, so don't be afraid to leave one there ;) Also, leave kudos if you enjoy what you're seeing :)
> 
> Poor Louis, things keep getting complicated :P
> 
> As always, hope to see you next time! :)


	4. A Little Bit of Irish Folklore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again!   
> I've been loving those comments of yours these days!   
> Keep commenting and kudoing (I've just invented that word because i can ha ha) and as always, hope you like it!

Louis could not believe his luck now. Sure, he was not able to convince Zayn at all, and Harry was far from convinced, but a lunch date with Harry and his fiancée was surely a good start. Maybe he could try to ignite some spark in the green-eyed boy or something… Something to make him believe Louis’ crazy story…

Louis followed Harry and Adel toward the opposite end of the plaza, where a bunch of tables were arranged under a big tent. Some guests were already on their seats. The guard at the entrance of the tent stopped Louis and asked for his ID (“It’s required for entrance into the VIP section, sir.”). Harry cut him off and said he was with them, and the guard didn’t even throw a questioning glance at him and let him pass. Once inside, a waitress took them to their table—the largest one, near the stage—and they sat down. A man then brought them fine wine and bread to start off. 

“Who’s performing?” Louis asked to break the ice. He was sitting next to Harry, and Adel was throwing lasers at him from Harry’s other side.

“No idea,” Haz said. “Here, there’s a brochure with the performances, if you’re interested.”

He handed Louis a card with a bunch of names on it. Louis grabbed his wine glass and prepared to take a sip out of it while reading the list. His eyes wondered the paper, and then he choked on his wine.

Niall J. Horan.

Louis re-read the name a million times. It was definitely written there.

“A-Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes,” Louis said, still coughing. “Who’s this guy?” He added pointing at Niall’s name.

Harry shook his head.

“I don’t know. Why, do you know him?”

“Er… His name sounds familiar, that’s all.”

“Oh, I hope he sings well!”

“Trust me,” Louis smiled, “he’s great.”

The waitress returned with the menu and quickly left again.

“So, Lewis,” Adel said. “Tell us more about you! What do you do for a living?”

Louis cleared his throat, remembering his conversation with Zayn: “It’s Louis, actually. I’m a... teacher.”

“Oh. What do you teach, then?”

“Umm…”

Before Louis could think of something inventive and important, the waitress came back and everyone started ordering their food. Good change of topics.

Then another person sat of the table, right across from Louis. Two people, actually. They were an old couple, both probably in their seventies. They were both dressed in expensive clothes, the woman heavily adorned with equally expensive jewelry. Louis noticed her purse was made of crocodile skin and his stomach turned. _Animal skin, really? Yikes._ He threw a quick glance at Harry, whose face showed the same discomfort.

“Mrs. Ryan! Welcome,” Adel beamed at the couple. The elders did not even smile.

The waitress interrupted the awkward situation by bringing in the food. To Mr. and Mrs. Ryan, even though they hadn’t even ordered anything as far as Louis could tell, they brought some lobster with mashed potatoes that made everyone at the table lick their lips with hunger. And then they brought the spaghetti for everyone else.

“Who is _this_ , Weber?” Mrs. Ryan spoke. She signaled Louis with her head as if he were a dog.

_I already hate this woman._

“Oh, that’s Lewis Timpleton, a friend of Harry’s,” Adel answered.

“Louis Tomlinson,” Harry said reprovingly.

“In my defense,” the idiot laughed, “it is a hard name to learn!”

“And yours isn’t?” Louis couldn’t contain himself. All eyes landed on him as he spoke, not raising his own eyes from the food. “If you could learn to pronounce ‘Adel Weber’ without help from your kindergarten teachers, I’m sure mine is just a step down the ladder.” When he finished, he raised his eyes and smiled at Adel innocently.

The table was quiet. Harry looked like he wanted the earth to swallow him.

“A runny mouth you have there, Lewis.”

“It’s just one of my many charms,” Louis winked. He caught Harry containing his smirk at the corner of his eye.

“Enough with the silly games,” Mrs. Ryan interrupted. “Let’s talk business, which is what we came here for, Weber. Why was the deal put on hold? I thought the arrangements were made.”

“The… wedding was postponed, Mrs. Ryan. Harry wanted to take some time to finish his shows first. But I assure you, we are now very happy”—he hugged harry by the waist, pulling him closer—“and the preparations are all ready to continue.”

Louis looked at Harry. His head was bowed down. He hadn’t even touched his food. So there was a deal behind the whole fiancée act. Interesting.

“Well, make it quick, Weber. My husband and I don’t enjoy waiting. When is the wedding?”

“In exactly a week, this next Sunday.”

Louis choked on his wine again.

_A week??_

“Perfect.” Mrs. Ryan then looked at Harry, studying him up and down. She snarled in disgust. “I hope you don’t trip as much in my shows, Styles. I hope I’m doing the right thing investing for you.”

Harry nodded.

“Is he mute, Weber?”

“N-No, ma’am…,” Harry said. His face was red. Louis hated these people. He hated fucking Mrs. Ryan, hated fucking Adel, even hated Mr. Ryan, who hadn’t even talked yet. He knew he wouldn’t be able to contain his anger much longer…

“Well, speak then!” The woman snarled again. “Models are not just based on looks, you know. Granted, you do have the looks. But so far you’re missing the elegance and brains.”

That’s it, Louis thought. He pushed his plate away from him and stood up. Let them all look, he thought. He wasn’t gonna let some high class scum treat his husband like that.

“Apologize to him right now.”

Everyone, not just at the table but at the entire tent, shut up and turned to look at Louis.

“Who do you think you are, mister?” Mrs. Ryan stood up too now. They were both facing each other across the table, like two dogs ready to attack.

“What’s more important here is who do _you_ think you are to talk to him that way? Now, use your morals for once since you got here, and apologize.”

“What is this outrage, Weber?!”

Adel stood up from the table too and walked around it, putting himself next to Mrs. Ryan.

“Could we please talk outside, Mrs. Ryan? I-I have no idea what… I mean… Give me a chance to explain, outside, p-please…”

“You better explain fast, Weber! I have never been so humiliated in a business meeting before!”

Mrs. Ryan, Mr. Ryan, and Adel left the tent, leaving Harry and Louis alone at the table, Louis still breathing heavily.

_That should teach her something._

The chatter in the room raised in volume once more and Louis sat back down. On top of the stage, a young lady started singing a slow jam while playing guitar. Some people awkwardly moved to center of the stage in couples and started dancing. In a few seconds, it was as if the disturbance had never occurred. It was then that Harry murmured a weak “Thank you” that was barely audible on top of the chatter. Louis caught his words just in time.

“You’re welcome. Why did you let her, though?”

“Let her what?”

“Treat you like that! That was straight up rude, Harry. I would’ve screamed some more at her if we weren’t in a public place.”

Harry laughed. “I don’t doubt it. I… didn’t want to cause her to break the deal, that’s all…”

Realization showed on Louis’ face. “Oh, fuck. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’m sure Adel will get the deal back up in no time, don’t worry.”

Harry smiled again, his dimples popping. “Wanna dance?” He said out of nowhere. “While we wait for them to come back?”

Louis was not a fan of dancing, to be honest. He could not dance if his life depended on it. But… dancing with the person he loved the most, no matter what alternate universe he was in… That sounded like a nice way to spend the afternoon.

“Sure,” he said. He offered his hand and Harry took it. “You’re gonna have to teach me though, because I am shit at it.”

“Ha ha, I’m not very good either. But the wedding plans got me practicing, you know? I’ve got some moves now.”

“Alright, lead the way, Mick Jagger.”

They positioned themselves among the dancing couples and faced each other. Louis shivered. Harry laughed.

“Well,” he said, “since you’re… um… shorter, I think it’ll be easier if I grab your waist.”

“Oi! I’m not that short.”

“Yeah right.”

“You have heels on, you cheater.”

Harry then got down, removed his shoes and kicked them aside. Louis could tell he was very amused.

“How about now?”

He was still a great chunk taller than Louis, as Louis already knew. Harry’s shoulders were also broader, making Louis seem extra petite. The smaller one laughed in defeat.

“Okay, you’re obviously taller. What next, teacher?”

“Put your hand on my shoulder and give me the other one,” Haz instructed.

He then grabbed Louis by the waist and pulled the two of them closer, chests touching. Harry’s hand went just a tiny bit lower and rested there, firm on Louis’ lower back. Louis involuntarily gasped and shivered again. He blushed when he saw the smirk on Harry’s face. _So he knows he’s gorgeous. I’m okay._

“Now follow my lead. And don’t step on my bare feet, please.”

“Can’t guarantee that.”

They moved slowly at the beat of the music, one feet to the front, then to the back. Louis remembered when he had practiced dancing for his marriage to Harry. This was similar to that. He wondered why they had never danced again after their wedding… Maybe Louis would bring dancing back to the married schedule once everything was sorted out.

A finger raised Louis’ chin and blue met green.

“Don’t look at your feet, look at me.”

“That will most surely end in me stepping on you, though,” Louis said, and, evident enough, he accidentally stepped on Harry’s foot. Harry grimaced in pain but then laughed. “I told you.”

“Still, try it. Talk to me while we’re dancing. You’ll get better at it, I promise. I’ll stand the pain.”

“My gentleman,” Louis snorted.

They danced like that for a minute or two, and continued to dance through the next song as well. Eyes never leaving each other.

Finally Louis thought he would ask him about the whole deal thing. He knew deep down that it was probably the last thing Harry wanted to talk about at the moment, but he wanted to know what was going on with Harry’s new life. Why was he going to marry such a douche? Why was this deal so important anyways? Did he and Adel even love each other?

“Harry…”

“Yeah?”

“What’s the deal Mrs. Rude Ryan was talking about earlier?”

Harry chuckled. Louis was right, he didn’t seem interested in talking about the topic at all. But he did, anyways.

“Mrs. Ryan owns one of the biggest modeling firms in the world. The whole thing basically revolves around that. Adel owns a smaller firm, but important nonetheless. I obviously model for my fiancée.”

“Yeah, I think I got that part of the memo.”

“Very funny. The thing is, and not to brag or anything, but I became more famous than either I, Mrs. Ryan, or Adel expected. Ryan tried to buy me for her company instead, but Adel wouldn’t let her… It was around that time that I started to go out with Adel. Some months went by and then we made our relationship open to the public. Mrs. Ryan took that opportunity to create a compound deal. Here’s where it gets tricky, you ready?”

“I’m all ears.”

“They got to an accord saying that if Adel married me, but Ryan put part of her money in, the companies would both own the rights to me… or, my modeling career: Ryan through her money, and Adel through the marriage.”

Louis arched an eyebrow. “That sounds a lot like oppression of rights to me.”

Harry chuckled. “I didn’t know about this deal by then. I was just living my life with Adel and all. Some months later, though, Adel proposed.”

Louis hadn’t been aware that he had been dancing without taking his eyes away from Harry all along, and neither of them had tripped.

“I said yes, clearly. I learned about the contract shortly after, and I guess I was mad… But I don’t know. I love him, you know… And he loves me too. So we went along with it. It’s just… Lately, I feel like the money coming out of all of this is getting to his head more than it should…”

Louis had no idea what to say. He was 107% sure Adel was in it for the money, but he couldn’t just say that… That would be insensible.

“What makes you think Adel’s not just in it for the money?” Louis said, cursing his insensible ass.

“I just know him. I’ve known him for a while now, even before his modeling firm made a big sensation. I think know what he’s like when he’s not in front of ‘royalty’… Does that make any sense?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Louis nodded. He doubted such an asshole could turn into a prince, but he agreed just to leave it at that.

The music then stopped and everyone started clapping as the girl left the stage with her guitar, waving a bunch of ‘thank you’ notes at the crowd.

“Next in line,” announced the lady with the microphone that took the stage, “we have…”—she frowned at the paper in her hand—“Neil… Niall Horan.”

Louis clapped the hardest of all the guests as his best friend appeared. Niall hadn’t changed one single bit in this alternate universe. His light brown hair looked the same, his blue eyes looked the same, he still had no ink on his skin, and he even dressed just like Louis pictured him. He was very glad his terrible wish back at the fountain hadn’t altered Niall, at least. Except for Niall not being a famous singer, obviously.

The Irish lad walked up to the microphone stand and swung his guitar to his front.

“Hello ladies and gentlemen, how’re ya’ll doing?”

The crowd cheered. Again, Louis screamed the loudest.

“They wanted me to sing some Irish folklore for ya, but this’ll do,” the crowd laughed a little, “Alright. You’re invited to sing along if you know the lyrics.”

Of course Niall chose freaking Shawn Mendes for his cover. Louis chuckled.

The public was quickly dancing and singing again. Louis kept admiring Niall’s smile. The stage was truly Niall’s home, and he felt some guilt at being the reason Niall was now singing at parties instead of concerts, where he belonged.

“You were right,” Harry’s deep voice commented by Louis’ side. “He is really good. He’s amazing!”

“I know. He has so much talent, and I—hey!”

Something was wrong.

A security guard, accompanied by the lady that had read Niall’s name on the paper, presented himself on stage, causing Niall to stop singing midway through his cover. People all around Louis and Harry stopped dancing, clearly sensing trouble as well. Louis pushed through the crowd and made his way up to the front, followed by an equally confused Harry.

“I’m gonna have to escort you out, mister. Follow me,” the guard said to the Irish lad.

Louis sighed angrily when he saw the guard was the same man who wanted him to move back to the last rows at the fashion catwalk. Niall still did not move.

“Sir,” the man repeated, “it is my last warning. Get out of the stage, NOW.”

Uh-oh.

What happened next, Louis would not have seen coming even if it were right in front of his face the whole time. Niall stood up from his stool, took off his guitar dropping the microphone stand in the process, and ran—yes, ran—on the opposite direction of the guard. Of course the guard caught up with him in no time, and proceeded to put Niall’s hands behind his back. Niall fought for the first seconds but admitted defeat fairly quickly. It took a minute for Louis to react.

“Get your hands off him!”

“It’s you again, huh?” the man smirked at Louis. “You’ve been causing trouble earlier, I’m sure you don’t wanna join your friend. Stand back.”

Louis was suddenly tackled by another security man. The man forcefully put Louis’ hands behind his back too.

“What the fuck, man!”

The chatter in the room grew louder, all eyes on the apprehended lads.

Out of the corner of his eye, Louis saw Harry manage to make his way to the front, followed by Adel Weber and the Ryan couple. Harry’s face was a mixture of confusion with scared. Louis wanted to explain to him everything but for what? Right now was not the time for explanations, as he wasn’t even completely sure what just happened either. Adel smirked devilishly at Louis from behind Harry as he hugged the green eyed boy from the back and planted a kiss at the back of Harry’s neck. Louis’ checks flared a vivid red color. Mrs. Ryan also seemed happy.

_Fuck them._

 

Louis had been pacing around in the detention cell for an hour. The police men were still in the adjacent office talking with Niall, who clearly had just gotten into a whole lot of more trouble than Louis had. That still didn’t change the fact that he was detained, though. His insides were screaming. One minute he was dancing with his husband, getting lost in his green eyes; the next he was locked up and hungry, without any idea of what the fuck had bitten Niall. Why did he run like that? Why did the guard want him out of the stage in the first place? These were all questions he preferred answered sooner rather than later.

_Talking about Rome._

The beep of the door went off as the cell was opened and Niall walked in looking flustered. The door closed soon after. Louis waited until the policemen left.

“Niall what kind of fuckery act was that??” Louis half screamed, half whispered.

The other lad looked at him with a frown.

“Do I know you…?”

“Yes! Well…no… But that’s not the point! Why did they detain you?”

“I could ask you the same thing! Why did you defend me??”

Louis breathed in and out. “Listen, Niall. Even if I went ahead and explained everything, you wouldn’t believe a word. So just answer my question, please.” Then he added, in a friendlier tone: “I’m Louis, by the way.”

Niall still seemed apprehensive, but shook Louis’ hand after a second.

“Guess I don’t have anything to lose anyways,” he chuckled. “I wrote my name on the list instead of the one I was supposed to write, and I guess they found out…”

Louis laughed. “You sneaked your way into the stage? How?”

“I worked in the brochure-making process with a friend. I didn’t think they would find out so soon.”

“That is… The stupidest way of getting detained that I’ve ever heard,” Louis said. That got Niall laughing his typical ‘HA HA HA’ laugh, which made Louis laugh even harder. Anyone who walked past the cell would’ve thought they were high.

“If it makes any difference,” Louis said once both of them found their voices, “you do belong in that stage, man. You have an incredible amount of talent, so don’t give up.”

Niall’s face completely softened when he heard Louis’ words. Louis meant every single one of them, and Niall knew it. They stayed there in silence for a while, and then…

“Thank you,” Niall smiled.

Louis smiled too. It was nice to have his friend by his side, even if he didn’t know who Louis was and they were both in jail. Which reminded him of that tiny problem.

“How are we getting out of here? I don’t have anyone to bail us out.”

“I called my friend, Liam. He might be able to get us ou—.”

“WHO??”

Louis choked for the third time that night, and this time without a drink. He walked up to Niall, who backed away pretty intimidated by Louis’ reaction.

“M-my friend, L-Liam. He’s a good guy, I promise!”

“YES, YES, YES! Oh Niall you have no idea how happy I am right now, I could kiss you!”

“I think I’ll pass.”

Niall smiled with amusement even if he didn’t understand why his cell mate was making such a scandalous scene over a name. He was starting to really like this Louis guy. He seemed funny, and crazy, enough.

“Hahaha I’ll present you two when he comes here,” Niall chuckled. “You’ll like him.”

Louis had to admit, the forces of the universe, whatever universe he was in, loved him at that moment. In the course of only one day without One Direction being formed, he had already found Zayn, Harry, Niall, and now Liam to complete the checklist. Something really did not want the band to be erased from history. It was as if that was their destiny, and right now Louis was loving it. Or, as if some things were just supposed to remain the same regardless of the wish at the fountain. Pretty much like the jacket he had on right now, which Zayn had handed him from the exact same place he had left it the night before any of this happened…

Quite unconsciously, Louis’ hand went inside the right pocket of his jacket. It was the same jacket alright. But why though? Why had everything—or almost everything—changed yet the jacket had stayed in the same place? He hated this magic-logic. None of this should be happening. He had said it before, magic just didn’t exist.

Harry believed in it, though.

He remembered Harry giving Louis the coin, Harry’s coin, and him tossing it in the fountain. He remembered his argument with his husband. Something told him the only way of putting reality back the way it was had to do with the damned fountain of wishes, that damned fight, that damned hotel, those damned wish coins…

His fingers touched something inside the pocket. Something flat and round and cold. He held it in his hand and peeked inside the pocket. A flicker of gold met Louis’ eyes…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Dont you just love husbands who defend each other and dance and step on each other's toes :))  
> And soon Payno is gonna make an entrance! 
> 
> So see ya next time, with some Lilo and Nouis ;)


	5. The Good, the Bad, and the Irish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAHHHHH Your lovely comments got me crying the other day :')  
> Thank you so much <3
> 
> PS: Watch out for Lilo feels in this one  
>  Also, there's a small Harry pov here :)
> 
> Enjoy!

_“You just love to argue with me about anything, don’t you?” Liam said. He sounded more amused than irritated though, so Louis laughed._

_“I do when I’m the one who’s right!”_

_(This was the same night from the beginning of the story, hours before the performance. The friends were all relaxing backstage after rehearsals)._

_“But you’re not right, that’s the point!” Liam said._

_“Alright my children,” Niall interrupted. He had a beer bottle on his right hand, and Louis wasn’t sure if that was a great idea. Niall did not get drunk with a single bottle, though, so that was a plus. “Why are you fighting now?”_

_Louis threw a glance at Harry, who was looking at something on his phone at the back of the room. He sighed sadly. Ever since the band’s return, the gap between them two had been increasing, partly because of Louis, who tried evading Harry in case he brought up the coming-out theme again, and partly because of Harry, who did not try to make the situation easier anyways. Louis low-key knew this was far from Harry’s fault, but it felt better to distribute the blame._

_“Niall,” Liam said, bringing Louis back into the conversation, “Let’s see if you can clear this up for us. What performance are we on?”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“What number,” Liam said._

_“Pfft How could I know? You’re the one keeping count, mate.”_

_Louis let a bark-sounding laugh out. Niall followed cue._

_Liam was getting slightly annoyed now. “It is our 15th performance! Why am I the only one who knows this?”_

_“Maybe because everyone else knows the truthful count, Payno,” Louis laughed. “Admit it, you messed up. It’s the 14th show after the hiatus, and that’s that.”_

_Liam still shook his head. “No! That can’t be right because New York was our last one, and I’m pretty sure we all agreed it was the 14th one that day. Ah, I wish I had my calendar with me, I would show you…”_

_“You keep a calendar??” Niall laughed again. Louis thought Niall would die before the performance if he kept laughing like that._

_“Oh shut up, both of you,” Liam stood up from where he was seated and walked to the back of the room, where he whispered something to Harry._

_Louis’ eyes locked on the two figures at the back, and his senses clouded Niall’s laughter. He could not hear what Liam was saying, but he saw Harry nod an ‘okay’, to which Liam patted him on the shoulder and walked back to Niall and Louis. Louis’ glance only left Harry when the green eyes lifted suddenly from the phone screen and met Louis’ eyes._

_“Alright,” Liam said, “we should probably start getting ready and all.”_

_Niall checked his watch. “We still have two hours, mate.”_

_“Yes. And have you seen how much time Tommo spends in the bathroom? Two hours is not nearly enough.”_

_“Oi!” Louis threw him a cushion from the seat he was on, but Payno evaded it easily._

_“For real, I’m serious. Niall, leave the beer. Harry, get dressed. Let’s go.” Then, not uttering any sound but rather moving his lips while looking at Louis straight in the eye, Liam mouthed: “You. Come with me.”_

_Louis got the message but groaned internally. He was gonna get one of the Payno talks. These, especially when directed at Louis, usually involved a short lesson on morals or such. Louis really wanted to melt right now, because he had an idea what the topic of tonight’s Payno talk was gonna be._

_Niall and Harry left the room and Liam followed them. Louis stayed inside though, knowing Liam would be re-entering anytime. He did, a couple of seconds later. Louis heard the click of the door._

_“What’s wrong between you and Harry, Lou?” Liam asked as soon as he sat down on the chair facing Louis. His tone was calm and understanding. “You seem mad at each other.”_

_“We’re not mad, Liam, I promise.”_

_“Then what? Harry talked to me last night, you know? He said he was afraid of you not loving him anymore, why?”_

_Louis’ heart ached enormously at hearing that. That was as far away from the truth as it could get. His eyes teared up a bit and Liam made no mention of it except a sad frown. “That is not true,” Louis managed to speak through the knot forming on his throat, “I love him more than anything, Liam, you know that…”_

_“I know, Lou… I know. But Harry clearly doubts it now. And I know it’s none of my business, but I am rooting for you two. Niall is rooting for you two. Millions of fans, even if they only based their beliefs on what they can see, are rooting for you. You two are made for each other, 100%. And… relationships have trouble sometimes, yes… But maybe talking about it with a friend, with me… Maybe that could help.”_

_Louis’ eyes were filled with tears now. He smiled sweetly at Liam and inwardly thanked him for always being there for him, even in cheesy moments such as this one._

_“He…,” Louis cleared his throat and started again: “He wants to come out, Li. He wants both of us to come out together.”_

_Liam smiled. “Well, that’s great!” Then his face changed as he saw Louis. “But…?”_

_“But… I don’t think I want to. Not right now, at least. But it sucks, because we’ve both been talking about it for ages! As soon as the contract expires, I told him. And he was so fucking happy, Liam. We both were. And now, I don’t have the guts.”_

_“Hey,” Liam got off his chair and seated on the arm of Louis’ seat now. He put his arm around the smaller man, and Louis pressed his forehead to Liam’s shirt. “It’s a huge step to take, Louis, so don’t think you’re a coward or anything of the lot.”_

_“Thanks,” Louis sniffled._

_“Allow me to give you some philosophical advice,” Louis chuckled at the big word, “I don’t think distancing yourself from him is doing any good, love.”_

_“I… I know. But it’s the only thing that will get him to stop talking about the topic, Liam.”_

_“I’m sure there are other ways to make him see you’re not ready. He loves you. He’ll understand.”_

_Louis hugged Liam by the waist, and the latter pressed his shoulder._

_“I’ll see what I can do,” Louis agreed. He dried his tears with the back of his sleeve. Both men stood up from the seat._

_“Thank you, Li.”_

_“No problem. I’m here if you need me, okay? Go get ready for our 15th, NOT 14th, performance,” he added with a wink._

_Louis rolled his eyes._

_“Whatever you say, Calendar Man.”_

 

It was around eight in the evening when the two police men outside the detention cell announced someone had bailed both Niall and Louis out, and that they were free to go. The men returned each of them their properties and led them outside.

Louis already knew who he was going to find waiting for them at the reception room, but his heart jumped nonetheless. It was odd how much he could miss someone he literally had talked to—even cried with—a day before.

Liam Payne waved at Niall, his glance somewhere between mad and protective. He hadn’t changed much, just like Niall, but his hair was fashioned in a different way. It was more formal, less… well, fashionable. His clothes were also less flashy. Liam was simply dressed in jeans and a white long-sleeved shirt. That was it, no chains hanging from his neck, no cap on his head. It felt odd seeing him like that.

“What have you been up to?” he asked Niall with a serious face once the three of them were out of the building, walking up to Liam’s car. Louis still had not even properly introduced himself, yet he was still following the pair up to the car, as if they were just gonna let him in with no questions.

“I sneaked my way into the show, that was it! It wasn’t even serious, Li.”

Liam didn’t seem convinced… 

“And who’s this?” he asked, signaling to Louis. It was the second time that night someone signaled at him as if he were a dog. He excused Liam, though, because he clearly had reasons to be mad.

“This is Louis,” Niall said. “Louis, Liam. He got himself detained because he tried to stop the guards from pulling me in, that’s all.”

Louis smiled at Liam and waved. Then he secured his hand inside his pocket again, feeling the wish coin inside. Finding the coin inside the jacket earlier in the cell had been close to a miracle for Louis. It meant there was still a way to change everything. He had to keep his hopes up.

But for that, he needed his friends.

“Niall!” Louis interrupted the sermon Liam was about to give to the Irish lad. Both Liam and Niall looked up from their argument.

“Yeah?”

“Can I talk to you...? Just you.” He would have included Liam too under normal circumstances, but Payno seemed too angry at both him and Niall, so Louis tried his luck with the latter instead.

Niall nodded and Liam walked some paces behind, giving them space.

“What’s up?”

“I’m gonna need a favor from you,” Louis blurted out. “You may or may not like it.”

“Hey,” Niall chuckled, “you were by my side back there; I owe you. What is it?”

“May I stay at your home for the night? I’m gonna need you to drive me somewhere early in the morning because I don’t know if I have a car.”

“You don’t know? What??”

“Just, please. I’ll explain later.”

Louis took the next seconds to study Niall’s face, alert for any expression that suggested he was not up for it. If there was something consistent about Niall in any reality, though, was his ultimate loyalty once he determined someone was a friend. Louis wasn’t entirely sure how, but the events of that day had made Niall trust him fairly quickly. Maybe, Louis hoped, Niall considered him a friends in this new reality already…

“Alright,” Niall sighed finally. “One night. But you’re gonna have to tell me what the hell is going on. I don’t like not knowing things.”

Louis laughed and put his arm around him. “Of course,” he said, “but promise me you won’t kick me out as soon as you know the truth.” 

“Promise.”

They shook hands on it. Now it was official. 

 

Harry washed his face for the fourth time in a row that evening, both to remove every make-up residue from his face as well as to remove the discombobulated events from the fashion show away from his memory. As if that would work.

As he looked at his pale reflection in the mirror, however, a tiny voice in his head whispered: Do you really want to forget, though?

_Yes! Yes, I do_ , Harry thought frustrated. He was talking to himself again. That couldn’t be a good sign.

He sighed as he dried his face with the towel.

That day’s fashion catwalk had been disastrous, yet also exciting. For one part—the disastrous part—he had been publicly humiliated by Mrs. Ryan, much like he expected would happen. Harry knew the old extravagant lady never had liked him much anyways, but now his fiancée’s glorified deal had been at risk. Almost, that is. Adel had managed to talk some sense into the woman when they had that chat outside the tent. Adel was still mad, obviously. Harry had also tripped on the catwalk, again. He was sure to be the model who tripped the most times per show, he thought. The articles tomorrow would talk about that for sure.

On the other hand… The afternoon had not been that bad. Harry was not a shy person, per say, but he never expressed as much about his life problems with strangers. He had an image to keep, and he was always careful with what he said to the public. This time, though, Harry had screwed up big time by telling this mystery man, Louis Tomlinson, all about Adel’s deal with Mrs. Ryan involving his own wedding. He didn’t even know who this Louis guy was, and it just hit him how stupid he had been when he saw the police men taking Louis away. But… There was something about Louis that he had liked. It never crossed Harry’s mind that Louis could be a reporter in search for an article. It never occurred “Louis Tomlinson” might not even be the guy’s real name!

No. All he cared about was that he had liked him.

And oh, their dance!

Harry closed his eyes and hugged the towel still hanging from his arms. He imagined the towel was Louis’ petite figure, and he started dancing in circles in the bathroom.

Harry’s smile and dance vanished when he heard someone clear their throat by the door. He opened his eyes to find a skeptical Adel Weber leaning on the door frame.

“What are you doing?” Adel smirked playfully. Harry inwardly thanked God for Adel’s improved humor.

“Dancing,” Harry smiled.

Adel walked up to Harry and planted a hungry kiss in his mouth.

“We were lucky with the deal today. Mrs. Ryan was pissed,” Adel said.

“Can we not talk about that, babe?”

“I thought that was the whole reason behind today’s show anyways.”,/p>

“Yes,” Harry agreed, “it was. During the show. Which means now I want the time left of the day for just chilling with my husband-to-be.” Harry stood on his tippy toes to reach the man’s mouth and kissed him. Adel smiled a bit.

“One more thing, though,” he said. Harry sighed. “That man you were hanging out with at the after-show party… I have a bad feeling about him, babe. You saw the guards taking him away. He’s not a good guy.”

“You said the guard told you they took him away just for standing up for the performer, love,” Harry rolled his eyes. “He wasn’t a criminal, he was just… I don’t know. Confused. But he’s not a bad guy.” Was he a good guy though? He kept his own doubts to himself.

Adel apparently decided to end the topic for the night, much to Harry’s enjoyment.

“You’re right,” he finally said. “Let’s forget about today’s drama, yes?”,/p>

Harry hugged his fiancée by the waist and nodded, just as Adel pressed him against the nearest wall out of nowhere. Harry closed his eyes as Adel kissed his neck passionately. And his eyes rolled to the back of his skull when Adel raised him up by his thighs, still pressed against the cold bathroom wall.

 

If Niall had kept his loyalty in this alternate universe, it was only fair that Liam had kept his protective instincts as well. To Louis’ dismay, Liam did in fact keep them.

For the entire ride to Niall’s apartment, Liam kept a sharper eye on Louis than he did on the road. It was clear Liam didn’t trust him as Niall did, and this whole idea of a stranger sleeping at Niall’s house was an insane idea to Liam.

_It is insane though_ , Louis thought.

When they reached the building, Liam had refused to let Niall alone with Louis all night. Louis really admired Payno for this, even if it conflicted with his own plans. After all, Louis was a stranger in this situation. Liam had all the right to mistrust him.

It was because of this protective instinct that Niall agreed to let Liam stay for the night too. It was all, according to Liam’s words whenever he believed Louis wasn’t hearing, to “protect Niall from the small one”.

Niall showed Louis the key points of the apartment once they were settled in. The living space was small, so the tour didn’t last more than ten minutes. Louis’ bed was going to be the small, cozy sofa in the living room. Liam said he was gonna sleep on the rocking chair right in front of the sofa in order to be close to Louis.,

Niall offered them beer to start the lad sleepover they were having. They sat around the table.

“Okay, Louis,” Niall said. “Explain.”

“There’s quite a lot… What do you want me to go over first?”

“How do you know me?” Niall asked quickly. He had been dying to ask Louis that question. “Cause clearly you do know me… You knew my name, you stood up for me for no reason… I’m not that stupid, okay? And I could be wrong, but something tells me you know Liam too”—Liam frowned—“because of how you reacted when I first mentioned him. So yeah, all that could be a great way to start.”

_I am about to make a fool out of myself._

“You are correct, Niall,” Louis said slowly. “I do know both of you.”

“H-How??” Liam this time jumped. “I’ve never seen you before in my life.”

“Are you from the future?” Niall laughed. He drowned half of his beer bottle in one go.

“No,” Louis answered, “but it wouldn’t be too far from the truth.” Now that got their full attention. Louis braced himself for the amount of laughter that was sure to come out of the lads’ mouths. At a slow, understandable pace, he briefly explained what had happened with Harry at the fountain, about the wish coin in his pocket, and about how their lives were supposed to look like. It was similar to what he told Zayn earlier, but he actually elaborated as much as he could so as to not scare these two away too. When he finished his crazy tale, there was a heavy silence in the room. Liam was frowning and Niall was about to either laugh or cry but he was trying to conceal it.

“What… the hell…,” Liam broke the silence. Niall finally let a small giggle escape his lips.

“I know you don’t believe me, but I need you to at least cooperate with me on this one.”

“Okay,” Niall said, “a fountain conceded you a wish, then?” Niall, unlike Liam, was really trying to sympathize with Louis, even if the story didn’t make any sense. “And… we know each other because of a band?”

“Yes, One Direction. We met at X-Factor. In this world however, I did not attend the talent show, which means I did not meet you there.”

“Well, Liam and I met at X-Factor.”

“I know,” Louis nodded. “I read about it. You guys, along with Harry Styles and Zayn Malik were kicked out at bootcamp, right? You two luckily got to be close friends at the end, but you don’t even know Zayn, or Harry. But that is not how it really, _really_ happened… In the real world, I did audition, and the five of us got to the finals as a band.”

“Prove it,” Liam said.

“I don’t know how, Payno!”

Liam’ eyes brightened at the nickname for a fraction of a second.

_Maybe…_

“Okay. I’ll try to prove I know you, how’s that?”

Liam and Niall were all ears.

“Liam. You were bullied as a kid, correct?”

That took Liam off-guard. “Y-yes…”

“And I know that on your 16th birthday, you invited your entire class yet nobody showed up. People usually didn’t go to your birthday parties anyways because you weren’t popular, but this time it really hurt you because you had invited all of them. The cake had the shape of a number 16. Am I lying?”

Niall’s neck almost broke when it turned to look at Liam’s reaction. Liam was not moving a single muscle. His eyes were wide open. He was scared.

“How do you…?”

Louis brought to memory more facts about Liam that wouldn’t have changed regardless of the band’s formation. “Very unrelated, but you’re afraid of spoons… for some reason.”

Niall let a loud ‘HA HA HA’ out. Liam was still in shock.

“Niall,” Louis said. The lad stopped laughing. “Your biggest dream is, and always was, singing—which explains what you did today… As a kid, though, you wrote that dream down on the wood of a desk you had. It’s probably still written there.”

The room was silent again. Louis continued speaking.

“I could be here all night trying to remember fun facts about you two, but that’s not the point. The point is only a friend should know small details like those, right?”

Louis didn’t think that would be enough to convince them, but it surely grabbed their curiosity. That was all he needed right now. 

Silence.

“How about we leave it there for the night, lads?” Louis asked, trying to lift the mood. Niall and Liam didn’t seem to be sleepy but they agreed, neither of them wanting to think about what just happened. Niall went straight to his bed and Liam sat down on the rocking chair. Louis laid down on the sofa and covered himself in the blanket Niall had given him.

He was going to close his eyes but then saw Liam staring at him.

“How?” he simply asked. Louis knew he was referring to their previous conversation.

“You don’t have to believe me, Liam. You just gotta help me.”

Liam still looked at him suspiciously.

“Listen,” Louis said, “I don’t know if you see me like the little devil on someone’s shoulder, but trust me, I don’t mean any harm to you or Niall.”

“For some reason…,” Liam whispered, “I want to believe you. At least part of me wants to.”

“Well, that’s good.”

“But the other part of me does want to see you as the little devil,” he grinned.

“You’re the good, I’m the bad, what’s Niall then?” Louis joked. “He’s the Irish one, isn’t he?”

That caused Liam to relax a bit and laugh, making his eyes crinkle. Louis was glad he broke the man’s shell at least for now.

“Goodnight, Payno.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you for reading! And as always, ya'll know I'm hoping to see ya next time <3 ;)


	6. (Not) Waking Up Beside You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all those who are still reading this story, ily :')
> 
> **SOME CHAPTER WARNINGS!**  
>  As the tags for this fic say, there's smut. I mean, not really a 'warning', but yk, just putting it out there...  
> Also, some abuse toward Harry on Adel's part. Ik, that man is a bitch, but I had to put it there, so sorry.
> 
> That being said, let's continue...

_The feeling of the bedsheets underneath him was too warm and pleasing to make him want to get out of bed, so Louis decided to stay there, with his eyes closed, for a while longer. He and the lads didn’t have any shows or interviews scheduled that day, so why not sleep until he wanted to?_

_The sunlight filtering through the closed curtains made his body relax in the heat. He usually got cold easily, so the sun on his skin felt like paradise right now. Only his feet were cold. He hated having cold feet. He curled his legs and the blankets covered his feet now._

_That’s better, he thought. If someone tried to get him out of bed that day they were gonna see him get pissed very fast._

_As if on cue, he felt an arm slide through the blanket and curl around his waist. And then a pointy nose at the back of his neck, breathing hot air on his skin. Then a pair of lips started kissing his upper back, sending a million shivers across his spine._

_Okay, so he did not get pissed. Quite the opposite, actually._

_Louis smiled._

_“Get up, it’s already ten-thirty, Sleeping Beauty.”_

_“That’s not nearly late enough,” Louis mumbled, half of his face smashed by the pillow._

_Harry turned Louis around, positioning his bigger body on top of the smaller one._

_Louis couldn’t believe how someone could be that beautiful in the mornings, but there he was, right in front of him. Harry had his hair long by then, so his messy dark brown curls fell in front of his face as he looked down at Louis. They were both completely naked, Louis realized, after some rough sex last night from which Louis hadn’t still fully recovered from. He smiled at Harry as he removed a strand of long hair from the green eyes._

_“And why would you want me to wake up so early, Harold?”_

_“Cause it’s our day off in between promo, and I wanna spend all the time I can with my loving husband,” the lad smiled back._

_Gosh, he was gorgeous._

_Louis turned Harry around, positioning himself on top now. He was proud of how easily he could do that, just turn his husband around regardless of the height difference. Leaning on his elbow, he caressed Harry’s cheek a little before diving straight down and embracing him in a long, passionate kiss. Harry allowed Louis’ tongue to slide right in with no hesitation, and Louis obeyed. Harry’s hand held Louis’ jaw in place, tugging at the small hairs on the back of his neck every once in a while. They stayed like that for minutes._

_Louis was aware of how hard they were both getting, but the kiss felt so fulfilling at that moment that he didn’t want to really end it yet. So he waited for his husband to give him the signal._

_It only took one more minute for Harry to open his legs a bit further, and Louis took that as the clue. He started rocking his hips against the green-eyed boy sprawled under him, slowly, still not breaking the kiss. Louis then rested his hand on Harry’s hip under the covers and started massaging the soft skin with his thumb. Harry groaned, finally separating their mouths just by a few centimeters._

_“You are killing me,” he said._

_“Someone’s pretty desperate,” Louis chuckled. He kept massaging the lad’s hip._

_“I have a whole day planned for us and we’re already behind schedule,” Harry said, making both of them laugh._

_“Harry Edward Tomlinson, I am endeared. And what is it you got planned for us today, love?”_

_“It’s a surprise.”_

_“Oh is it now?”_

_Harry nodded and then added: “Morning sex is on the schedule, though.”_

_Louis snorted. Why did he love this idiot so much?_

_Louis got up from the bed and went for the bedside table, where he got one of the condoms. They had made love yesterday night too, so everything was already laid for him at the bedside table. It only took him three seconds to get prepared and return to their bed, where Harry was looking up, smiling at the ceiling. He laid on top of Harry again, caressing his long curls._

_Just to piss Haz off, Louis started massaging his hip again and planted some kisses on his neck._

_“Just get inside me already before I go nuts,” Harry whispered amused._

_Before diving in, however, Louis had to tell Harry what he told him, and would always tell him, every time they got intimate. It was a stupid thing really, but he needed to make sure Harry knew. He needed to make sure Harry was a hundred percent content and comfortable every time they had sex, because his love’s interests were always put above his own. Sure, Louis felt tons of pleasure from the act, but great part of that pleasure was giving Harry pleasure, too. And Louis was sure his pre-sex routine probably was absurd… But if there was a chance to make Harry feel more secure by saying it, he would repeat it every time. And so, just like he did the previous night and all the ones before, Louis looked at those green eyes and whispered, voice full of care and respect: “Don’t let me fully control you. Don’t be scared to tell me to stop if anything.” And as always, Harry would smile, knowing his husband would always put him first, and reply: “I love you.”_

_Louis pushed his fingers in first to make sure Haz was okay, and built a slow pace. Harry grimaced a little but relaxed after some seconds, moaning from time to time. After that Louis positioned himself on top of his husband and removed his fingers, using now both hands to steady himself._

_He pushed in slowly, watching Harry for any signal of discomfort. Harry closed his eyes tightly and arched his back, giving Louis a full display of his neck and lower jaw. Louis resisted the temptation of kissing his neck right that second and kept pushing in instead, until he was completely inside the younger man. Harry exhaled hard and then nodded at Louis, hands gripping Louis’ arms with force._

_They coordinated their breathing with Louis’ thrusts, which started slow and deep. Harry’s nails dug at Louis’ back and arms, and Louis groaned several times. The blue-eyed man fastened his pace when Harry begged him to. He shifted to the side a little and kept going, each thrust hitting Harry’s weak spot._

_Harry let out a harsher scream at one point, very different from his previous moans... Haz shut his eyes with force and took in a full breath. He bit Louis’ arm just a little bit, wincing. It was signs like these that Louis was able to detect; just a hint of too much pain clouding the pleasure. Louis stopped and removed some wet hairs off Harry’s eyes._

_“You ok, love?”_

_Harry took five seconds to finally reply, “Y-Yeah. K-keep going.”_

_“Haz, look at me. Are you sure?”_

_The green eyes were teary but confident as he looked up at Louis. “I’m sure.”_

_Louis inwardly thanked the universe, because he was so close… He continued thrusting hard into Harry, the bed creaking underneath. It wasn’t much time before both of them reached that point and Louis pulled out, collapsing on his back, next to his husband._

_The sunlight filtering through the curtains had considerably warmed the room, and now, with all the heat coming out of his own body, Louis felt like he was inside an oven. He really could do with a cold shower. He stayed, though, contemplating both of their breathing calm down one breath at a time._

_He then turned on his side and stared at Harry. His green eyes were only half-open, marked by wet eyelashes. His dimple popped up when his eyes met Louis’._

_“Morning sex… check.”_

_“Idiot,” Louis laughed. He launched the nearest pillow at Harry, who was too weak to even try to deflect the blow. “What’s next on your list?”_

_“Picnic breakfast?” Harry said._

_Louis leaned in and kissed him once more that morning, this time a fast peck on the lips. “Sounds wonderful.”_

 

Louis smiled at the memory of him and Harry having sex in the morning, loving each other like nothing else mattered. He smiled at the thought of opening his eyes and finding that cute dimple and those mesmerizing green eyes and that mass of brown hair…

Except he didn’t open his eyes to that this time.

He had slept in a terrible position on that small sofa at Niall’s apartment, and he had been cold the whole night. The only good thing was the sunlight from the living room window, which reminded him of the sunlight in his and Harry’s bedroom. He had hoped this whole alternate universe had just been a bad dream, but his hopes were crushed when he opened his eyes and found Liam sitting on the rocking chair in front of him, giving him a cheeky smile.

“What’s on my face?” Louis asked as he sat down on the couch and yawned.

“Nothing,” Liam smiled. “Been having some erotic dreams, I see…”

“What! No!”

“You’ve been moaning the name ‘Harry’ for a while.”

“Shut up.”

Niall came out of his bedroom, his hair a mess and rubbing his eyes.

“This is so early for me, Louis, so your trip better have a good reason.”

After last night’s talk with the lads, Louis was sure they’d help him, even if they didn’t seem sure about Louis telling the truth. Louis knew he had them though when he saw his friends’ faces when he tried to prove the wish fountain story wasn’t a complete product of Louis’ imagination. There was no way of explaining how Louis would know those things unless he was telling the truth.

Louis was not entirely sure what he was gonna find at their destination today, but he figured it was the best course of action for him to take: to pay a visit to “The Duchess” hotel. The hotel was where this crazy mess had started on the first place. Maybe if he found the old lady that gave him the wish coins at the reception room he could ask her how to unmake a wish. Or maybe he could find clues about how to do so in the fountain itself. Everything Louis had planned was based on hypothesis, basically. But he had to try something.

Louis urged Niall and Liam to finish their breakfast as fast as they could, much to the lads’ displeasure. While Niall was still finishing his scrambled eggs and bacon, something served as a distraction for Louis to kill time while he waited: a call from Zayn. He answered the call, expecting what he was gonna find coming out of the other end of the line.

Louis took the phone to Niall’s bedroom and locked the door, ignoring Liam’s questioning glances.

“Louis! I’ve been calling you all night.”

Louis sighed. “Listen, Zayn… about yesterday…”

“No,” Zayn cut him off. “Look, I’ve no idea what that was about. And it was scary. So just tell me you were drunk and move on. I just called to see if you’re coming.”

Louis wished it were that easy.

“Just… Are you not coming to work, then?” Zayn said after a pause.

“I… can’t. I’m sorry.”

“Guess we’ll get you a substitute, then. Why though? You don’t tend to miss classes unless it’s something really important…”

Louis rumbled on and on in his head about how to tell his friend that 1. Neither of them were truly teachers, and 2. He was gonna go again to the fountain and hope for the magic to happen. It all seemed so stupid in Louis’ mind, he wanted to actually laugh out loud on the phone.

“It is very important, Zayn,” he said. “I have to go now.”

“I’m your best friend. You can tell me stuff, you know.”

And just like that, the line went dead.

Louis returned to the kitchen to find Niall—already done with his food—and Liam waiting for him. It wasn’t his fault that Zayn did not want to believe him! Louis would like to say he didn’t care if he had Zayn’s help on this or not, but his heart ached knowing in this alternate universe he would lose Zayn again just like he did in the real world. Louis felt like the worst friend ever.

_Guess some things truly do not change._

 

Model Harry Styles was a morning person, but he just didn’t have the energy that day.

After his and Adel’s bathroom embrace, they had made love just like Harry knew they would. Just like they did almost every night. Again.

Harry enjoyed it, yes. But even sex you could get tired of if it was a routine thing. It was similar to the feeling of Adel and his deal with Mrs. Ryan, and how the money was getting to his fiancée’s head covering the actual love involved in a wedding… Now that they had been having sex every night, it did not feel like there was any love involved in it, just… business, almost.

Maybe they needed to change the routine a bit. Maybe do it in the morning once, for a change.

Adel had left for work earlier so he wasn’t anywhere around the mansion. His side of the bed had been left unmade. Harry stared at the emptiness next to him and frowned. He hated waking up alone.

He tried to sit down on the mattress but his entire body ached, which brought to his head the true reason for his lack of energy that morning. He didn’t know if it was because of the bad episode Adel and him had at the fashion show yesterday, or if it was because Adel was extra frustrated because of the deal, or God-knows-what, but Adel had been too rough last night. And not in the good way. He had actually hurt Harry. Not on purpose, obviously—hopefully—but still hurt him nonetheless.

Harry remembered screaming in pain and begging his fiancée to stop, to which Adel kept going, taking Harry’s screams for moans. He just kept fucking him into the bathroom counter, Harry’s tummy harshly pressed against the cold sink. Harry really felt like slapping him sometimes. He loved him, but felt like slapping him.

He slowly managed to get up from the bed, arching his back as he held his bruised stomach. Looking at it in the bathroom mirror he realized how ugly it looked like that, all purple with bruises. He turned around and glanced at the reflection of his shoulder, full of nail marks, all of them bright with his own dried blood.

_Thanks a lot, Adel._

He prayed make-up would conceal all the marks in time for his photo-shoot tomorrow.

After a light breakfast rich in fruits and some cereal, he got ready for the next part of his morning routine: running around the park. He loved this part of his morning though, maybe more than sex even, which was not a good indicator possibly. But exercising felt so refreshing and free! It was one of the few “normal” things he could hold on to in his life.

He winced as he put his T-shirt and sweatpants on. He had no idea how he would manage to run in this stage of pain, but bruises wouldn’t take away his happy time of the morning. No way.

Harry opened the front door and the sun, as usual, welcomed him. He had the feeling today was going to be a good day.

 

“It’s here,” Louis tapped Niall’s shoulder and pointed out the window of the car. Niall turned the wheel and parked in front of the tall building.

The Duchess Hotel had remained intact through its travel through realities, for which Louis was thankful. That probably meant the fountain was still up there, on the terrace.

“Thanks for bringing me in here, lads,” Louis smiled.

Louis got out of the car and leaned on the driver’s window. Niall gave him a half smile.

“You sure you’ll be okay?” he asked. “Liam and I would love to stay with you but we’d be late for work.”

“I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Niall didn’t look convinced. Louis loved how much they cared about him already, even if, technically, they had only “met” the day before.

“Alright, take care. You have my number if you happen to need a ride,” Niall winked. Liam waved from the passenger seat, all mistrust of Louis gone from his eyes. “We should meet again someday. You seem like a fun guy.”

“We will.”

And with that, the car drove away, leaving Louis in front of the hotel. He sighed and entered.

Everything was just as he remembered from that time with the lads: the plants decorating the entrance, the staircase on the lobby, the reception office. There was an enormous line at the front desk, and Louis did not feel like waiting so long. So he took the lift instead, and pressed the button for the last floor.

The lift ride seemed hours long and Louis almost clapped when it reached the top. It wasn’t even that high of a building for fuck’s sake.

It was a sunny morning and the wind up on the terrace felt just as wonderful as it did that night… 

And there it was. The fountain of wishes.

Now that Louis was in front of it, he started wondering what his next move should be. By instinct, he removed the golden wish coin he still had inside the pocket of his jacket and stared at it, turning it around. Should he ask for a new wish right there?

He was about to throw the coin with the words “put everything back the way it was” etched on his mind when he saw the golden plaque on the fountain shimmer in the sun. He kneeled down to read the inscription:

**Behold the Fountain of Wishes! Only one wish per coin, only one wish per person! Make that One wish come true! One wish per person. One wish only.**

“No, no, no! You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”

**Coins have a one-week expiration date, so wish fast!**

**Any wish made after the week won’t come true; and any changes will remain unchangeable after one week!**

Okay… Louis hadn’t paid attention to that part before. He re-read the last sentence: “Changes will remain after one week.” Did that mean he could still somehow unmake the wish before the week was up? That’s certainly what it sounded like…

**And don’t forget: always believe in magic!**

**-Courtesy of The Duchess Hotel-**

“FUCK YOU.”

Louis re-read the stupid inscription a million times, trying to search any possible clue. He kicked the fountain in frustration a couple of times, too, but only managed to hurt his foot. After about fifteen minutes, he had a vague idea of what the inscription meant, but no clear way of accomplishing it.

Basically, he still had a chance of putting everything back the way it was. Just like with the jacket he had on right now, or with how Zayn’s eyes lightened up when Louis mentioned Liam, or how Liam reacted to the name “Payno”… These were all fragments of the real world, of Louis’ world. These fragments had travelled through realities, and had ended up here, like ghosts of Louis’ real life. There was a timeframe of one week, after which what was poop would remain pooped, and these fragments would not matter anymore.

Louis could not, however, ask for a new wish to put everything back the way it was… It was only a wish per person, and Louis had already asked for one. But then, how could he possibly unmake it? He still had one wish coin available, but no one to use it… yet.

Louis pondered over it in his head more times than he could count. He arrived at the conclusion that someone else had to ask for the wish, not him. Someone who had been in the real world, with Louis. Someone like one of the lads, he thought. But not just any lad… 

Louis’ eyes diverted to the shiny inscription again. That last sentence…

_Always believe in magic._

One thing was believing Louis’ story, which any of the lads could eventually do. Another thing was believing in magic itself. And Louis only knew one person who did... That person had, in fact, been the one who threw the coin for Louis’ wish into the fountain that night after their fight. That person was the one that, just by not meeting Louis, had caused a massive change on everyone’s timelines, because he was that important. That person was the most important person in the world right now, because everything depended on him being able to remember his life with Louis and on him asking for that wish before the week was up…

“Harry fucking Tomlinson, you’re the answer to everything, aren’t you!”

Louis took his phone out of his back pocket and checked the date.

Monday.

Louis had made his wish on the night of the last Saturday, towards midnight. That gave him about six days (counting the rest of today, which was a lot) to make Harry remember his real life, to make him fall in love with Louis again, and to take him to the fountain for him to toss his coin.

Piece of cake!

Or maybe not.

Definitely not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully Louis can accomplish everything before he runs out of time!! D: 
> 
> See the difference between how Adel treats H and how Louis does? 
> 
> Hope to see ya next time, loves :) <3


	7. A Stroll Around the Park

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!!!! Been loving the love given to this story, you guys make me feel so soft and happy :') 
> 
> This chapter is fluffy :) Enjoy!

When he walked out of The Duchess, Louis had no other way to go. He had no car, and no one to call other than Niall or Liam, who were working, and Zayn, who was also working. He realized he did not care about responsibilities such as a job now, because this life wasn’t really his. 

Also, there was no one running to him to ask for a picture or an autograph, because he was nobody. That part felt nice, he had to admit. 

He walked around the block five times, more than he had ever walked in his life. After the last round, he decided it had been enough exercise for the day, and crossed the road towards the big park on the front of the hotel. He sat on the nearest bench, breathing deeply.

As soon as he sat down, he had to stand up again. Something, actually someone, had caught his eye among the people at the park that sunny morning. He smiled as he recognized the dark curls bouncing up and down as the man trotted near the lake.

_Talking of Rome._

Louis made his way to the man, forgetting all about how much he just walked. The man ignored him, so Louis started trotting behind him until he finally caught up with the long muscular legs. A pair of green eyes frowned at Louis and then the man smiled in recognition and stopped.

“Wouldn’t expect to find a famous supermodel on my daily stroll,” Louis winked.

Harry laughed. “You run too?” he asked. Then he looked at Louis’ clothes and added skeptically, “In jeans?”

“Ha-ha, okay, you got me. I just happened to be walking around, that’s all.”

“You haven’t been following me, right?”

“Nope, I just happened to get lucky,” Louis said. It was true, too. “Mind if I hook along?”

Harry shook his head and both started walking in silence next to each other, the sun bright on their faces. Louis hadn’t noticed he had been looking at Harry for a while, when the taller lad caught his glance and both of them blushed.

“Sorry for the appearance,” Harry broke the silence, signaling to his running clothes, all wet and plastered to his skin, outlining every muscle. Louis guessed that yeah, it was kind of sweaty for his taste, but at the same time the muscles on Harry’s back and arms were very visible that way and Louis was not complaining.

Then, before Louis could say anything, Harry spoke again: “What happened after you and your friend were taken away, at the show the other day?”

Louis chuckled. “You don’t think I’m anywhere close to a criminal, I hope.”

“Well, no… But you were taken to jail that day, so I want to know.”

“We were detained only, it’s fine. A… misunderstanding.”

Harry raised his eyebrow questioningly but left the topic alone.

“And you?” Louis asked. “Did I ruin the deal with Rude Ryan?”

“Fortunately, no. Otherwise Adel would’ve killed you in your sleep.”

_Adel. Right._

Louis had forgotten about Harry marrying that douche in a few days. _One more thing to add to my problems_ , he thought. He had to change the topic.

“I pictured you as the running type since the first second I saw you,” he said. Harry laughed out loud. “I did not, however, expect you to be a good dancer. That was a surprise, Styles.”

“I told you, I’m not. I’ve been practicing though.” Then he cheekily added, “You danced pretty okay for your first time, Tomlinson.”

“I’m flattered.”

They reached the shade of a big tree planted by the lake. Louis walked a few steps realizing Harry wasn’t by his side anymore. He turned around and found him standing there, looking at Louis through squinted eyes.

“Who are you, really?” he asked. “You said you were a teacher, and it’s Monday. Why aren’t you at school?”

“Very perceptive, nice.”

“Well…?”

“You don’t trust me?”

“Should I?”

Louis smiled. Harry was not dumb as Louis well knew.

“I… don’t think teaching is my thing. I might quit,” Louis shrugged his shoulders.

“What is your thing?”

He detected some sympathy in Harry’s voice. Almost as if Harry felt the same way toward his own modeling career sometimes… Louis knew Harry’s true passion was singing, obviously. Maybe it had to do with that… 

“I like to sing,” Louis said. He watched Harry’s eyes open and sparkle, and his dimples getting deeper.

“Really?? I love singing too!” As soon as he said it though his smile evaporated and he looked down. “I mean, I’m… I’m not very good at it, it’s more of a hobby.”

Louis couldn’t believe the amount of bullshit he just heard. Harry, ‘not very good’ at singing? Harry had one of the best singing voices Louis had ever witnessed, and he wasn’t just saying that because he was his husband and bandmate. No, Harry was _really_ good. _Even better than me_ , Louis always--due to his own lack of self-trust--thought (although the lads would kill him every time he said that). Maybe, because he was not a singer now, Harry just didn’t have as much confidence with his voice.

“I’m sure your singing voice is great,” Louis said. “We should sing to each other someday.”

Harry blushed a little. “That could be fun…”

They continued walking past the shade of the tree now. Louis really could not take his eyes off Harry even if his life depended on it. He didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable, but the boy’s beauty was not helping much.

“Tell me more about you,” Louis spoke. “What other secret hobbies do you have?”

“I like to cook,” Harry smiled. “And you?”

“Oh, I see! An answer for an answer, I like this game.” Louis kicked a rock into the lake. “I love footie. FIFA is life.”

Harry snorted humorously.

“Now my turn to ask,” Louis added. He thought about it for a second. He could even push it a tiny bit… “I’m gonna guess something about you though, you ready?”

“If you can,” Harry winked.

“You are a rom-com guy, aren’t you?”

Harry stopped in his tracks and smiled to the ground.

“Ha! I knew it.”

“What gave it away?” Harry asked.

“I’m just telepathic.”

Both laughed at that. Louis loved that Harry would laugh at every stupid thing he said. It was as if Louis were the funniest guy in the world. It had always been like that, too; on interviews with the lads, on the stage… And Louis adored making him hunch over in laughter, like a little kid. He would die for those dimples.

“Keep reading my mind then. What else?”

Louis acted as if he was thinking hard about this one, when in reality he already knew Harry by heart. They had been married for years now, even if Harry didn’t know that yet. Touching his chin in a very melodramatic way, he said: “The Notebook.”

Harry seemed truly surprised. “Am I that easy to read?!”

They kept messing around with Louis’ “telepathy” for a while, neither caring much about the time. It was nice for a change, given that Louis had always said Harry was the mind reader in their relationship. He was glad this version of Harry wasn’t really different from the Harry he knew and loved, except for the modeling part. He was still that kind-hearted boy Louis adored, and there was still that childlike innocence about him that Louis found attractive somehow. His likes and dislikes were similar, if not the same, and that gave Louis the advantage.

They didn’t just walk, either. On their fifth round around the lake, Louis attempted to teach Harry how to make the rock “jump” on the water, much to the amusement of both parties. Louis was sure he hadn’t laughed this much in ages.

“Flip the wrist, dummy.”

“I’ve been doing that,” Harry giggled. “You are a disastrous teacher, mister.”

“It’s why I wanna quit, I told you!”

Louis demonstrated the act again, his rock jumping four times on the surface of the lake. Harry’s pebble hit bottom before even starting. As he tried with the next rock, Harry raised his long sleeves showing part of his lower arms. Louis noticed that many of the tattoos that should have been there were missing, and also that he had a few new ones Louis had never seen. Harry glanced at him and followed Louis’ gaze to his own arms.

“You got any tattoos, too?” Harry asked, squinting at the sun.

Louis was about to say ‘yes’ but then remembered he didn’t have any ink on his body in this alternate world, so he shook his head.

Harry left the pebbles on the floor and came closer to where Louis was standing, a few feet away. Standing close to each other, it was easier to see the height difference. Louis’ heart skipped a beat. Gosh, he wanted to kiss him right there so bad.

“I have a few small ones,” Harry said, showing Louis his arm decorated with the skin art. “I plan to get more in the future, but management doesn’t want me to get many because of the modeling career. But I’ll do it, someday. I have many designs I want to try… And I don’t know, they mean something to me. It’s like my story on my skin. Cliché but I like it.” He then pointed at the bigger chunk of empty skin on his arm. Louis knew very well what tattoo should go in there. “I really want to get something done here,” Harry said. “I’m not sure what yet, but it looks kinda naked like that, doesn’t it?”

“What about a rose?” Louis asked. “You seem to love roses.”

Harry’s eyes sparkled for a fraction of a second.

“I would need someone to get the dagger then,” he said.

Louis was sure his heartbeat could be heard all the way to Pluto.

Predictably, the spark left the green eyes as soon as it came, and Harry backed away a little, feeling a bit flustered. They stayed looking at the lake for some time. Harry finally broke the awkward silence.

“I’ve been here all morning! I better get going back home…”

“You have stuff to do?”

“Umm… More of just hanging around the house, doing house chores.”

“Don’t you and Adel have a house maid?”

Louis knew what the answer would be, but still asked the question in order to seem more natural. As expected, Harry shook his head: “No, I don’t like having maids. Besides, cleaning takes my mind off things.”

“See you around, I guess.”

“Yeah…”

A million thoughts crossed Louis’ mind as he watched Harry turn his back to him and take a few steps on the opposite direction. He wanted to run up to him and beg him to stay at the park with him a little longer. It was similar to when kids don’t want parents to pick up them up from their friend’s house. He felt just like that.

Louis smiled sadly and turned around too.

 

_What am I doing?_ Harry thought. _Chores can wait. Adel doesn’t return till night, there’s plenty of time!_

He kept walking forward though.

He peeked over his shoulder at the receding figure behind him.

There was something about this man, something special. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it felt as if they had known each other for a while, certainly for more than just two days. He had spent an entire morning with this guy, and he had to recognize he had more fun in those hours than he did in the last weeks. Everything was a stress due to the wedding preparations, yet with Louis it all evaporated. He could just be Harry around him, and not ‘Harry Styles, model about to marry clothes designer Adel Weber’. Louis was definitely a friend worth to leave chores behind for.

But what about his fiancée though? Adel would be pissed, especially because it was Louis, the guy who caused all the scenery in front of Mrs. Ryan… But didn’t Harry’s happiness matter more? He hadn’t had a proper friend in ages. He couldn’t give that up…

 

_What the fuck are you doing, go after him!_

Louis was having a serious debate in his head about what would be better to do.

He had just talked with his Haz for hours, and it had all been a coincidence: he was just resting on a bench after his hotel visit and saw the man running around the lake. What if no more coincidences presented themselves in the next few days? What if he couldn’t get the chance of talking to him in the rest of the week before the wish expired? What if he was stuck in this life as a teacher, without friends and without the love of his life, forever??

He couldn’t let that happen.

Louis turned around and started running toward the direction Harry had gone to.

His legs picked up speed.

 

_Screw chores_ , Harry made up his mind.

He turned around and started running toward Louis, his smile growing wider as he recognized the figure running towards him at the end of the path.

Both Louis and Harry slowed down once they were about five feet from each other, both laughing and breathing hard.

“Guess it’s not goodbye yet.”

 

Louis found himself walking through the front porch of an elegant house a quarter of an hour later. The modern mansion had a beautiful view of the lake he had just walked around with Harry. The front window panes were made of fine colored glass, similar to those in Christian churches. The interior was very colorful, and Louis guessed Harry had been the one in charge of the decoration for the building. There were tons of weird things hanging from the high ceiling, too… they were artistic mobile sculptures, apparently, even if to Louis they just looked like a bunch of colored panels hanging about. There was a spiral staircase and through an opened archway, Louis could distinguish the smell of coffee and chocolate that could only be the kitchen, he assumed.

“Make yourself feel at home,” Harry said, locking the door behind him.

Louis couldn’t help but compare this house to Harry’s and Louis’ house back in the real universe… They were just so different. Harry Styles’ home was full of paintings, enormous paper flowers, colors… While Harry Tomlinson’s home was plain, white, elegant yes, but maybe even boring. Louis recalled the time him and Harry decorated their home. Louis’ style of décor was just so different from Harry’s, yet he couldn’t remember Harry ever complaining about Louis’ simpler aesthetics. He had seemed content to Louis. But now that he saw Harry’s own decoration, he wondered if his husband even liked the plain white look… Louis made a mental note to redecorate their home the way Harry liked it once everything returned to normal.

He hadn’t even noticed Harry had left the room, but he did see him come down the stairs toward Louis, some folded clothes on his arms.

“I’m taking a shower to get rid of the sweat and all,” he said. “You can, too, if you want. There’s another bathroom in the back. I found these clothes of mine… They’re old, so maybe they fit you. They’ll still look big on you, but it’s all I have.”

Louis took the clothes Harry handed him. “That’s fine, thanks. Where’s the bathroom?”

“Here, I’ll show you.”

Louis followed Harry down a stretch hallway leading up to the bathroom and walked inside. Harry leaned on the door.

“I’ll be upstairs if you need anything,” he said.

Then he closed the door behind him.

Getting undressed in a different house than what he was used to was the weirdest feeling in the world. He always felt like that, even in hotels.

Louis unfolded the clothes Harry had given him. The jeans would most certainly never fit Louis. He snorted at the extra half-foot of jeans that Louis’ short legs would never be able to cover.

“I guess I’m re-using mine then,” he said to himself.

The shirt could work thought. It was a simple dark blue, long-sleeved sweater-like material. It would look a bit big and his hands would be partially covered, but it was cute enough.

Louis turned the hot water on, and got under the shower, washing away the sweat and stink from the past day and a half. The contact of the hot water with his skin was incredibly relaxing. He could stay there all day. His skin did feel foreign without the ink on it, though. That was the only unsettling thing.

He got out a few minutes later, and dried himself with one of the pink towels on the corner. Once he was fully dried, he dressed up and rearranged his wet hair as best as he could on the mirror.

He wasn’t sure where to put the dirty laundry or Harry’s jeans.

Louis opened the bathroom door, wondering if Harry was already done with his shower. He didn’t see anyone near the hallway or near the first floor in general. Harry had clearly stated he would be upstairs, though, so he tried that.

There was an ajar door on the second floor, and the sound of water running came out of it, so Louis guessed Harry was there. There was also some music playing and some humming. Louis sneakily peeked inside and saw a bedroom, all in shades of red and pink and gold. It was dark inside except for a warm light coming from the left side of the bed. Louis guessed it was probably the bathroom inside the room which Harry was using. He cleared his throat and knocked on the ajar door of the bedroom. The humming stopped.

“Louis?” Harry’s voice called from inside.

“Yeah, it’s me. I… have your jeans. They didn’t fit me, I mean. I’ll just use mine… W-where do I leave them?” He said it all really fast, but Harry understood.

“Just, put them on the bed. I’ll get them.”

Louis opened the door slowly and got in. He was used to seeing Harry naked, of course, but he didn’t want to see _this_ Harry naked. Not while this Haz thought of him as a stranger, at least.

Louis folded the jeans neatly and placed them on the red mattress.

He heard the water stop.

“Put your dirty clothes there too; we can wash them when we come back,” Harry called.

He heard the rumbling of a towel on the other side of the door leading to the bathroom. Just the thought of Harry drying his naked body on the other side of the door was making Louis lightheaded all of a sudden. His jeans felt even tighter.

Louis could hear the music, his own breathing, the zipper of some jeans… He could hear everything from the bedroom. He had to forcefully order his heart to stop jumping.

Then the door of the bathroom opened and Louis jumped, turning around. Harry had a pair of tight black skinnies on, but his top was still bare. He was holding a crumbled towel up to his torso though, so Louis couldn’t see much. Louis was glad no one could see him blush in this darkness.

“Oh!” Harry gasped when he saw him. “You’re still here! You scared me.”

“S-sorry… I’ll wait outside…”

As Harry walked toward the bed though, something other than Harry’s bare top caught his attention. Haz’s shirt was laid on top of the bed, and when the taller lad bent down just a little to pick it up, he winced. Louis turned his head at the sound, and the light coming from the bathroom illuminated Harry’s shoulder. There were some ugly red marks on Harry’s back. Nail marks, but pretty deep too. Louis immediately made his way toward Harry, his eyes frowned.

“Harry… A-are you okay??”

The model turned around and opened his eyes in surprise.

“Oh, yeah, d-don’t worry, really!”

Then Louis saw the purple bruises all over Harry’s stomach.

“Harry, what happened?!”

“Nothing, Louis! I promise! Just wait for me outside, I’ll be there.”

Harry took Louis by the hand and led him to the door. Louis walked out still in shock.

_If that asshole is hurting him…_ Louis didn’t want to continue that sentence, but he was sure it would end in him fucking murdering the guy. Harry came out of the room wearing a long mustard sweater with pink flowers engraved on it. He looked wonderful, but that still did not take Louis’ mind off the subject.

“Did he hit you??”

Harry frowned and then understood what Louis meant. “Adel? No! No, no.”

“Then what are all those bruises for? We’re not going anywhere until you explain, Harold.”

“Who??”

“Just… Harry, whatever.”

Harry sighed defeated.

“Adel and I just had some rough sex last night, okay? That’s it, calm down.”

Any sign of color left Louis’ face for a second, and then all the red shades in the world accumulated on his cheeks.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

He felt like throwing up. The image of his Haz, his husband, fucking that idiot made his stomach turn inside of him and his skin heat up. He also felt embarrassed, because Harry’s sex life wasn’t his business, really. Not here.

“I’m sorry,” he said in a low voice.

“No problem. I like that you care so much, though.”

Harry’s smile made him feel much better. Louis smiled back in reassurance.

“Shall we go have some lunch, then?” Harry asked.

“I’d love to.”

“Awesome. I know just the place.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These two husbands are so sappy jhjfghgfgfg
> 
> Thanks for reading, angels :)


	8. Grey with a Hint of Blue-Green

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again, loves <3
> 
> Just a little note: Im going away for winter vacations, so it is possible that the update schedule might be a bit broken for this next week or so. I will try to continue updating at the same pace I've been doing, but if one day there's no update, it's because im with my family somewhere lol Just letting you know :)
> 
> That being said, enjoy the chapter :)

Harry took Louis to a cozy pub lunch not very far from Harry’s house. The temperature was slowly getting colder outside, and the fire inside the pub was very inviting. Even though it was only noon, the inside of the place was dark, just like most bars Louis knew.

Harry led him to one of the small tables at the back, where they took a look at the menu. Once the waitress took their order—Louis asked for an individual pepperoni pizza; Harry, for some pasta—they relaxed into the conversation.

Harry told Louis all about his life as a model, and what the troubles of being a celebrity were. Louis knew all about paps, and pictures, and autographs, and getting mobbed, but he still listened to him with attention to each detail, as if he couldn’t imagine what being a celebrity was. Harry’s stories were still very different from what they had experienced as One Direction. He wasn’t nearly as ambushed by fans, that was clear. Also, being a singer and a model didn’t have much in common as a job, except the famous part, so Harry’s stories were actually very interesting to Louis. Of course, Harry could talk about grasslands and Louis would still find it interesting, just like everything Harry said. But that wasn’t the point.

Louis, on his part, concentrated on making Harry laugh as much as possible. He knew about Harry’s love for terrible knock-knock jokes, and even though he didn’t understand the whole commotion put into them by the boy, they still managed to make those dimples pop up every time. By the time dessert came, Harry was hiccupping like a madman. Louis was so endeared.

They left the pub some minutes later, smiling like idiots, and then walked around the block for some time. Even though they had just eaten, Harry insisted on buying Louis an ice cream cone from his favorite ice cream store in town. Then they entered the different stores along the sidewalk, not buying any items, but just for the pure fun of it.

In short, they did not want to say goodbye yet.

But time eventually runs out. Harry had things to do, and as much as it pained Louis, he had to accept the fact that in this universe, Harry was not his to keep forever.

It was five in the afternoon, the sky outside already displaying light shades of orange, by the time they were driving back to Harry’s home.

“That was fun,” Louis said from the passenger seat.

“It really was! I do have to do house chores now, though. No excuses for me.”

The front porch of Harry’s and Adel’s luxurious house appeared on Louis’ window not too long after. Louis had to go look for his clothes upstairs, change, and give Harry’s clothes back to him. He wasn’t attempting to move from the seat though, just like Harry wasn’t attempting to open the door. They just stayed quiet for a while, breathing in the silence, parked in front of the house.

Louis didn’t want to go yet, and Harry didn’t want him to leave.

“Does… Adel like the house clean for when he comes back?” Louis asked, not really looking at Harry, but rather at the distance. 

“He does. He’s coming at around eight.”

Three hours.

Three hours that he could still spend with the love of his life.

They finally got slowly out of the vehicle and into the building. The festival of colors made Louis smile sadly. Colors all felt kinda grey at that point.

 

_Sometimes colors felt muddy, grey… discolored. Louis hated those days, days when the stress was too much, when his mood was on rock bottom._

_He didn’t even know why he was being like this, even. That was more frustrating._

_He just wanted to not talk to anyone._

_Louis tried to put together whatever was left-over from last day’s dinner on the table. One plate, one glass, fork and knife, and some chicken with mushrooms on the center. Then he sat down and lazily moved the food around in the plate, his chin resting on the palm of his hand._

_This hiatus was going by so slow._

_It was late at night, and Louis had not left the house again after that one hour of stunting. Maybe that was what got him into this ugly mood since the morning. He had been morning shopping with his “girlfriend” while Harry had been wherever the heck management wanted him to be in order to make sure people wouldn’t think him and Louis lived on the same planet. It was the stupidest, most predictable tactic in Louis’ opinion. As soon as Louis was seen somewhere, Harry had to suddenly fly for unknown reasons away from the country, and be spotted on the other side of the earth. Ridiculous._

_Louis felt empty when Harry was away._

_What management didn’t realize was that it didn’t even work, honestly. Millions of fans still knew the truth. At least that was a positive thought to have._

_He kept glancing at the clock on the wall in front of him. He did not even touch the chicken and mushrooms. He counted the minutes, throwing glances at his phone next to him on the table…_

_11:45 PM._

_Still fifteen minutes till twelve, he thought miserably._

_Deciding he wouldn’t be able to digest anything at that moment, he left the table and sat on the couch, where Clifford was snoring with his four legs up, his head almost hanging from the edge. The dog jumped when Louis sat down, and started wagging its tail at the sight of his master._

_“You see me almost every day, buddy.”_

_He still smiled and accepted the dog’s licking all over his face. At least he had Clifford while Harry was gone._

_He waited._

_12:00 AM._

_Louis’ phone started ringing, and now a full smile spread over Louis’ lips as he answered the call._

_Suddenly colors were a bit less muddy._

_Harry’s face appeared on the screen, also radiant with a smile. His curls were tucked behind his ears and his eyes were surrounded by pronounced eye bags, but the vibrant green and light were still there. Louis guessed his own face probably showed signs of tiredness as well._

_“How are you, love?” Harry said, between a whisper and a scream. He was obviously trying to not speak so loud._

_“I’m much better now.”_

_“I miss you so fucking much.”_

_“I miss you too, Haz.”_

_Harry smiled sweetly to him through the phone. Clifford suddenly pushed Louis aside and barked at the screen as he recognized his second master, his hair brushing Louis’s face._

_“Aww! I miss you too, little fur-ball,” Harry said in his ‘baby talk’ as Louis called it._

_“Alright, Cliff! That’s **my** husband, move!”_

_“Someone’s jealous,” Haz laughed._

_Louis pushed Clifford aside and took control of the screen again._

_“So?” he asked. “How’s it going over there?”_

_“It’s good,” the green eyes said. “Bit boring without you or the lads, obviously… But hey! I got you something! I got all of you guys something, actually, cause I was just bored and looking around. Let me look for them…”_

_Louis snorted when Harry’s face left the screen for some seconds. Harry was really like one of those moms who went to every single one of her son’s matches and bought all of the kids on the team cookies, trying to seem cool. He loved his motherly qualities so much._

_“Okay, I’m back. Why are you giving me the fond face?” Harry joked._

_“Because I’m endeared.”_

_“I love you. Okay,” Harry looked through some shopping bags and pulled a cozy stripped shirt, light blue in color. “This one is for Nialler. It’s simple, but he’s been using these a lot lately, so he’ll like it. It came with a discount, too, so I bought him two. The other one’s the same, but in green. Which is always nice, since he’s our captain! Get it? Blue, green.”_

_“You are so lame,” Louis giggled._

_“Oi! Moving on. This one…”—he removed another t-shirt, this time with graffiti-like designs—“is for Payno. I’m not sure if it fits him though… He’ll have to try it out next time we see him.”_

_Lastly, Harry pulled out a couple of more bags and scavenged through those. “These are for you!” He showed Louis a pair of light-blue skinnies. “I know management talked about dressing you up like a clown soon, but we both know how good you’ll look on these babies,” Harry winked._

_“Are the track suits that bad?”_

_Louis knew they were, but management wanted him to try out the new style, slowly._

_“If they make you feel comfortable, I guess,” Harry rolled his eyes amusingly. “I also found these video games for you. I have no idea what they are or if we have these already, but they were pretty cheap so why not.”_

_Harry kept showing him his presents, making Louis want to scream from fondness._

_What had he even done to deserve him? He didn’t deserve Harry, that was the answer._

_“Did you like them?”_

_“I loved them, Haz. And I love you more. Thank you.”_

_Harry stared at the screen for a while, his green eyes brighter than ever._

_“Do you have to go now?” Louis asked, his smile fading._

_Harry sighed. He looked sad too. “I wish I could stay here talking to you forever, babe. Or even better, I wish I were there. With you.”_

_“Me too,” Louis nodded._

_“I wanna wake up to your wrinkly eyes and just… boop that nose.”_

_Louis let out a small giggle._

_“I want to hold your hand,” Harry continued, his voice barely above a whisper, sending shivers down Louis’ spine, “I want to kiss you goodnight… To make love to you… I really want that right now.”_

_Louis blushed a deep magenta-ish color._

_“I want that too,” he said._

_“Sleep tight, Lou. I love you deeply.”_

_“I love you more. Goodnight.”_

_As soon as the call ended, that emptiness came back, and the colors around him grew muddy again. But there was still an echo of the green in Harry’s eyes that was etched on his mind, and as he closed his eyes and fell asleep on the bed, at least the green was vibrant among all the greys._

 

That same feeling of emptiness Louis felt whenever Harry travelled away from him for a period of time, Louis felt right then as he was about to leave Harry’s house.

He still had Harry’s sweater on—Haz had insisted he kept it, now that it didn’t fit him any longer—and his own shirt and jacket—the wish coin was still inside; Louis checked—tucked safely around his arms. He was one foot out the door and Harry was close behind him, staring at the floor. Once Louis was outside on the porch, Harry looked up.

“Well, umm… I better get going then, um.”

“Yeah. Goodbye,” Louis said miserably.

He stopped in his tracks when he heard the door re-opening behind him, though. Harry’s curly head popped out of it, his cheeks a beautiful pinky shade.

“Um, Louis, I… I was wondering, maybe, um…”

“Yes…?”

“D’you want my number?” he got even pinker. “M-maybe we can met up again, I don’t know.”

“Yes!” Louis sounded too desperate the first time, so he cleared his throat and started again: “Yes, I’d love to.”

Louis walked up to that front door for the third time that day and exchanged phone numbers with the supermodel. At least now he knew that wouldn’t be the last encounter he and Harry would have that crucial week.

They said goodbye again, a bit happier now.

Still, Louis felt it wasn’t enough Harry for the day… 

 

Harry hadn’t walked two feet away from his front door when he heard a light knock. He smiled and shook his head, knowing it would be Louis, who maybe had forgotten something.

Just as he expected, the petite blue-eyed boy was on the other side. They laughed, and Louis blinked a couple of times, showing off his long eye lashes.

_Damn, this boy is gorgeous,_ Harry though. He didn’t want to think what Adel would do if he had a look in his brain right then. Whatever magic this boy Louis was using on him was working, and Harry already felt a bit guilty… Nothing serious had, or would, ever happen between them of course, but he still wanted to punch his brain for giving him certain not-so-clean thoughts about this man’s lashes and perfect bum.

_Ok, brain, shut up._

“What is it this time?” he asked, rolling his eyes amusingly.

“I’m part of the room service team,” Louis said. “Heard there’re some house chores to be made.”

Harry couldn’t keep a serious face for long.

“You came here to help with the cleaning? This room service is fast!” he played along.

“Only the best in town,” Louis winked.

“Come in.”

Harry felt like a teenager. That’s how this man made him feel, like a kid. It was a great feeling, as if all his responsibilities and worries just vanished, replaced by laughs and dumb jokes. Suddenly all colors seemed much more colorful.

Louis told him he was not the cleaning type, and Harry confirmed that just minutes later when Louis couldn’t even hold a broom properly. He was still eager to help though, so Harry couldn’t complain.

Fortunately, the house wasn’t in such bad conditions, except for the kitchen, the backyard, and some of the rooms upstairs. Adel was kind of a freak when it came to seeing everything in order, though, so Harry was used to getting even the smallest of details perfected.

“Is it always this clean around here?” Louis asked, reading Harry’s mind almost. He was struggling with the broom, trying to get all of the crumbs from the floor. Harry had his back to him, doing the dishes.

“Mostly, yeah. Except when there’s a party the day before. Then it stays a mess for a while.”

“Many parties?”

“Not many, but the necessary.” Harry turned off the water and dried his hands.

“Done,” Louis said as he threw all the crumbs in the trash.

They moved to the master bedroom next, where Louis helped him make the bed, after having a short pillow fight across the room. The only reason they finally made the bed was that Harry had to accept defeat on the pillow war after losing his breath getting tickled to death by Louis.

“That’s not fair!” Harry had said, arms around his stomach for protection. Louis was careful not to tickle him there because of his bruises, which Harry appreciated, but his armpits were getting the full blow then.

And Louis had stopped a few seconds later, resting his body on his elbow, looking down at Harry…

And only then had Harry realized he was laying down on bed with a man that wasn’t his fiancée, their faces closer than they should be. After that, they had awkwardly set off to make the bed, acting as if that hadn’t happened.

Harry wasn’t stupid.

He knew pretty well that Louis was flirting with him, and had been doing so since he met him at the park that morning. Or even before that, at the fashion show, while they danced. Harry was humble, but he was also aware of his own looks, and no one could say Harry was not good-looking. This man Louis was obviously attracted to him. That was clear.

What bothered Harry just a tiny bit was that he also felt somewhat attracted to Louis. He recognized his own flirting episodes, and he had to admit he had glanced at that ass more times that day than he should have. It wasn’t a serious thing, obviously. Everyone had eyes, and anyone with eyes about to marry someone in a week still had the right to look at beautiful asses, right? He was sure Adel looked at his other models once in a while. So okay, that wasn’t really what bothered him...

The problem was probably that Adel hated this guy, yet Harry had just spent an entire day with him—he couldn’t say “on a date” because it wasn’t a date, it was just a fun series of events. The guy who humiliated Adel in front of everyone at the table, the guy who flirted with Harry after the show, the guy who almost made Mrs. Ryan scratch that deal for good… That guy was in Harry’s and Adel’s home right now, and Harry was sure his fiancée would never approve. Maybe that’s what got him so bothered.

_Yeah, that must be it._

Although Harry knew, deep inside, what the true reason was. What bothered him was that he was not bothered at all.

He should be, he thought. He should cut Louis off whenever he was being so flirty and cheeky, because Harry was taken. He was about to get married. Yet not only Harry didn’t cut Louis off, but also he flirted back. And he couldn’t deny that nice feeling he got from just goofing around with his new friend all day (Yes, friend. Friends is good). It was as if they had known each other for years…

“Alright, I think that’s good enough,” Harry said after they gave the car a quick wash.

Louis dried his hands with a towel and walked around the car towards Harry.

“What time is it?”

“Seven-thirty,” Harry replied.

“I should be going before the man of the house comes then.”

“Oi, what makes you think I am not the man of the house?”

Louis chuckled and threw the towel at him.

“You wish, Harold.”

Louis walked past him, and in quite an unconscious move, Harry grabbed his arm. He stopped and turned around.

“You keep calling me that.”

“Calling you what?”

“Harold.”

“Oh…,” Louis seemed taken aback. “It’s just a nickname.”

“I like it.”

“We’ll keep it then,” Louis grinned.

They did say goodbye and goodnight after that, unfortunately.

Harry waited alone for Adel to come home, recalling every detail of the day with a smile, writing everything down on his diary—yes, a diary—as fast as he could. He didn’t want to forget even a second of it. He had been right that morning, it was going to be a great day. It was, in fact, the best day he had in a long while.

It was way later than he expected when he finally heard the rattle of keys and the lock in the front door give in. Harry jumped off the couch and greeted Adel with a soft peck on the lips.

“I see everything nice and shiny, nice,” the man said.

Harry detected a hint of trouble in his fiancée’s voice. Uh-oh.

“Did something happen at work, baby?”

“Nothing important,” Adel said, rushing to the kitchen, “just a fight with one of the contractors. We had to go over the whole paperwork again because the idiot told me to fill in something you were supposed to fill in, it was a mess.”

Harry frowned in confusion but then quickly realized he was talking about the damned deal. Again.

Harry inwardly sighed.

He followed Adel as the man took some food from the fridge and went straight to the dining room. Harry wasn’t feeling hungry so he just sat down. He couldn’t hide the smile on his lips.

“What got you so happy?” Adel questioned.

“Babe… I had an awesome day today. You won’t believe who I found.” He waited for his fiancée to react, but the man didn’t even look up from his plate. Harry pressed on: “I found Louis Tomlinson again! Remember him from the show?”

Adel choked. He glared at Harry.

“Of course I fucking remember him. I told you to stay away from that asshole.”

Harry was expecting it. “I know,” he said, “but I accidentally met him at the park… And we talked and all, he’s not a bad guy at all, um… Actually, he said the police arrested him and his friend by accident, he…”

“Of course he would fucking say that, Harry.”

It was clear by his tone that Adel wanted to end this conversation.

“Oh, umm… Yeah… I suppose he would say that…”

Certainly not in the mood to listen to Harry at that moment, Adel left the plate and stood up from the table. Harry stood up too.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

Adel chuckled. “To bed, where else? I had a tough day today, I just wanna rest.”

“Sure. I’ll meet you there.”

And yes, not too long after that, Harry did meet him in their bedroom. And yes, Adel had alternative options to “resting” and was actually awake there waiting for Harry. And yes, Harry let Adel fuck him into oblivion again just like his fiancée wanted, making his previous bruises hurt more.

Yet he couldn’t stop thinking about he laughs he had that day, how perfect it had been. Even as he held on tight to Adel’s neck, nails digging deep in the man’s back with every harsh thrust, Harry remembered those baby blue eyes surrounded by crinkles…

And just as Louis’s muddy grey world became green whenever he recalled Harry’s eyes when Haz was away, Harry’s world that night, although he wasn’t sure why, was a light shade of blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are Louis' charms working....? Seems like the clear before the storm mmm....
> 
> Thanks for reading, again. See ya next time <333


	9. New World, New Responsibilities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter :))) 
> 
> We get a glimpse of teacher-Louis here :)
> 
> Enjoy!!!

Louis felt extra jumpy and all fuzzy inside when he got into Niall’s car, who had answered his call when Louis needed a ride back home. Niall looked at him questioningly from the driver seat, an eyebrow getting lost in his hairline.

“I’m just happy, that’s all,” was Louis’ answer to his friend’s questions. He didn’t feel like going into detail about his perfect day, at least not now. He just wanted to happily sleep for some hours, the memories of today’s time with Harry clear just for him. Maybe he’d tell Niall some other time.

Although Louis would have preferred to stay at Niall’s again for the night, the Irish lad presumably had visits coming over, so Louis agreed to go back to his apartment. He still didn’t know the address (he had only spent one morning there, woke up to a new boyfriend and all, and left the flat after that), so he had to call Zayn and demand him the name of the street. Of course, Zayn was confused as to why Louis didn’t know the location of his own apartment, but since Louis wasn’t in the mood of trying to explain everything to Zayn again, the latter finally gave it to him. Niall dropped him there a few minutes later.

The interior still felt foreign, as he supposed it would. This was by no means his home. The green-eyed boy he had spent an entire day with was his home. Not this.

At least there was no Dean in the flat anymore, which was great.

Louis didn’t even bother locking the front door. He just dropped the keys on the kitchen counter and made his way to the bedroom. Once there, he threw himself on the bed, not even taking his clothes off.

He was exhausted, but couldn’t fall asleep at the same time. His brain kept playing images of his day with Harry and how perfect it had been, and Louis was just trying to figure out how to make tomorrow just as perfect. He had Harry’s number now; he could call him first thing in the morning maybe… All Louis knew was that Monday was checked off already, which meant there were only five days now to make Harry fall in love with him, remember him, un-make the wish. Louis was sure that if he could win Harry’s heart, Harry would remember his real life with Louis. It had to be that way.

He had to win his love back.

_I’ve done it once_ , Louis thought. _I can do it again_. He encouraged himself for a good chunk of the night, until he allowed himself to relax a little with the memories of the day.

He stared at the ceiling, smiling every once in a while. He still couldn’t close his eyes.

 

Harry laid on bed looking at the ceiling, still unable to fall asleep.

Adel was already snoring next to him, his naked torso moving up and down at a slow pace. Harry glanced at him from time to time, and then his eyes would return to the roof.

He tried to blame his inability to fall asleep on his sore back and ass, but he obviously knew Louis was the real reason. He just didn’t understand how one day with this man could have such an impact on him. He didn’t understand why he felt this strong connection to Louis. He knew the reason for his wide-awake state was that Louis laughing at his bad jokes had provoked more butterflies in his stomach than sex with his fiancée had, as illogical as that sounded.

But he wouldn’t admit that. That just wasn’t right.

Harry shook away the thoughts as much as he could and shifted his body on the mattress. He forcefully made his eyes close.

And then he remembered those blue eyes.

He smiled.

 

“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty. I’m not gonna kiss you, so you’ll have to wake up on your own.”

Louis jumped from the bed, startled, as he spotted a man sitting on the edge of the bed. His eyes got used to the change in light after a few seconds, and so he recognized Zayn, all dressed formally and grinning at him.

“What the fuck, Zayn!”

“You’ll be late for work.”

Zayn went to the closet and then threw him a pair of jeans and a white buttoned shirt. Louis caught the jeans but the shirt hit him right in the face. He stared incredulously at Zayn for a minute.

“How did you even get here?”

“The door wasn’t locked,” Zayn said, shrugging his shoulders. “Now get dressed.”

“Where are we going?”

“What do you mean, where? To work, where else?”

Whoa.

Louis shook his head.

“N-no, Zayn, I can’t. You don’t get it, I’m not a teacher.”

Zayn turned around on his heel and walked up to Louis. His face was dead serious, and Louis sank a little bit under the gaze.

“Listen, mate. I don’t have time for your magical fantasies. I already had to cover the class for you yesterday because we couldn’t find a substitute, and now you wanna leave again out of nowhere. I don’t know what the problem with you is these days, but you’re driving me insane. And the kids, too! The show is this Friday, and Amelie was already crying yesterday because of the nerves. You can’t leave them like this, Louis!”

What in the actual fuck. Louis had no idea who Amelie was or what show Zayn was referring to, but he was sure that acting the teacher for a day was just a really bad idea.

Zayn was obviously not going to listen to him though.

“I won’t say it again, Lou. Get dressed, or I’ll drive you to school in whatever you’re dressed right now, I don’t care. You have fifteen minutes to get ready, so hurry up.”

And with that, Zayn closed the bedroom door harshly on his face. Louis stood in the silence for a minute.

_This can’t be happening, not now…_

Louis put on the jeans and shirt Zayn had thrown at him, shaking his head. There was no fucking way he was gonna go teach a class full of kids, that was just extremely outside of Louis’ capabilities. He had zero patience, and kids usually cried whenever they saw him. Louis had no idea how his alternate self had ended up as a teacher in the first place. And a teacher of what, exactly? Going off based on what Zayn said about a show, Louis guessed he was supposed to be the Theater teacher. And Amelie must be one of the students, then.

Louis felt like he was going to throw up from nerves at any moment.

“Are you done?” Zayn asked from the other side of the door.

“Y-yes.”

“Good. Breakfast’s ready on the table.”

Louis got out of the bedroom, feeling very uncomfortable in his new attire. Zayn sighed and walked up to him, leaned in a bit, and tucked Louis’ shirt inside his trousers. Then he pushed Louis to the table and seated him in front of a coffee cup and some muffins. Louis’ face was white as a ghost.

“Just to be clear, am I the theater teacher or…?”

Zayn looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Yes, Lou. You’re the Musical Theater teacher. You should know this by now.”

“Right. And you teach…?”

“English,” his friend said, extremely confused. “Please tell me you’re not drunk.”

“Wha—no, I’m not. Just um… checking.”

“You’re weird.”

A few minutes after, Louis was on the passenger seat of Zayn’s car, going to work against his will. He promised himself he would get out of this situation as soon as he could. For now though, he just had to play along.

A beautiful school appeared on Louis’ window some time later, and Louis’ stomach turned.

It all happened in slow motion. Zayn got him out of the car and literally dragged Louis by the arm all the way up to a wooden double door with a “Theater” sign on top.

“Zayn, please…”

“Stop whining. Now get in. You get the kid’s class for yourself, the whole day today, since they have to practice hard.”

“The entire day?? Don’t they switch classes or something?” Louis said.

“I already told you, not today. Today’s for them to practice their scripts and all. All the teachers agreed to it at that meeting you didn’t attend to. Maybe if you had gone to it, you could have objected. But since you’re an asshole, this is what you get stuck with.” Then Zayn added, a bit friendlier and placing his hands on Louis’ shoulders: “They love you. I’m sure they’ll love to spend the day with you.”

Zayn opened the door and pushed Louis inside. Louis’ heart was about to jump off his chest.

The theater was absolutely splendid, especially for a school. It was dark inside except for a few lights on the stage, which gave the room a homey feel to it. Or maybe it was just because it was a stage, something Louis completely related to. He could instantaneously picture himself singing on top of it, tons of screaming fans supporting him from below…

Then the nice image left his head as soon as many pairs of bright eyes were turned towards him from the front seat rows.

Louis made his way slowly to the front, where there was a desk facing the rows of seats, with some papers on. He looked at his students. There were about fifty of them, all ranging from eleven to thirteen years old. Louis guessed they were all of his younger classes, the ones involved in this show. He smiled awkwardly at them.

“H-Hello…”

Fifty voices responded, all in chorus: “Good morning, Mr. Tomlinson.”

He looked at the papers on the desk. One of them was a list of names, and Louis thought that was the best way to start.

“Um… Just say ‘here’ when I call your name, yes?”

Fifty heads nodded.

_This will take a while._

He started with the oldest of the lot, the thirteen-year-olds’ list, since they were the majority. He struggled pronouncing many of the names, each time receiving lots of giggles from his young audience. The twelve-year-olds were easier to pronounce. He finally arrived at the eleven-year-old class, and raised his head to look up at the girl whose name was first on the list: “Amelie Blake.”

A shy girl with caramel curls and huge green eyes raised her hand timidly. So this was Amelie.

Louis gave her a sweet smile and checked her name off.

He continued down the list until he had all of the students checked. The schedule was there in front of him, he saw. Then, he glanced at the bunch of scripts lying next to him on the desk. He chuckled at the play they were performing, Grease. Of course his musical theater self had chosen Grease for the school play. What a Louis thing to do. He smiled.

_Well, at least I know this one_ , he thought. It was his favorite after all.

“Alright,” he said, “as crazy as it sounds, I kinda forgot what we’re doing, so… How about you guys show me what you’ve got so far and we’ll work it from there?”

The class giggled again.

“Come on, up on the stage.”

Louis spent the next hour trying to learn the kids’ names (at which he failed horribly at least 95% of the time). He also made notes as the kids acted and sang along, trying to memorize their roles.

The script was a simplified version of the actual Grease, a kid’s version per say. The songs were mostly the same, except for lines that were changed to accommodate the younger audience. Most of the main roles were acted by the older students, and the younger ones stuck to singing and dancing. It was a very beautiful show overall, but Louis recognized there were some things that needed more work. One of them was poor Amelie.

The little girl would just freeze whenever her turn to sing came. Her eyes would turn watery more often than not. Louis had to tell some of the children to stop laughing at her. In any case, Amelie did not progress at all throughout that hour or the next.

Louis also had to help some of the kids with their harmonies, which at least he knew how to do. They more or less got it, but it still needed more work.

Many of the kids would forget lines, too.

In short, it was harder than he would have imagined.

But he loved the kids though. They laughed at everything he said for some reason. They hugged him whenever he went up the stage and helped them with their lines. They giggled every time he got one of their names wrong.

Harry would love them, he kept saying to himself over and over again.

The only one who kept her distance was Amelie.

When the lunch bell rang and Louis dismissed all of the kids, Amelie was the last one to leave. She was sadly putting her books inside her school-bag, drying her eyes with the back of her sleeve. Louis took the chance to approach her and kneeled down next to her on the stage, helping her with her books.

“Hey, Amelie.”

Her green eyes looked up at him. Louis was instantly reminded of Harry. She had the same eye color, and Louis bet that if she smiled, those rosy cheeks would display dimples.

“Why are you crying?”

“I’m s-scared I’ll m-mess u-up,” she hiccupped.

“Don’t be scared, love,” he said as sweetly as he could. “Many of your classmates mess up, too. That’s why we’re practicing first.”

“B-but what if I m-mess u-up in front o-of the whole s-school?”

Louis sighed.

“When I was in theater,” he said, not really picturing his theater past, but actually picturing being on stage with the band, an enormous crowd facing him, “I once fell on stage in front of everybody. Many times, actually.”

Amelie stopped hiccupping at that, apparently interested.

“What did y-you do?”

“Well, nothing, I just fell on my bottom, really hard,” he said.

That caused the girl to finally smile a bit. Louis was right, she had dimples.

“And yes, the crowd laughed,” he continued. “But I laughed with them after. I also forgot my lines while singing on stage, a ton of times. But you know what? I had my friends on top of the stage with me, and they encouraged me to keep going. I’m sure you have friends too. Like that other girl that kept talking to you, what’s her name… Victoria?”

“Vanessa,” Amelie giggled.

“Right, Vanessa. Well, Vanessa seems nice.”

“She is.”

“There you go. If you mess up she won’t laugh at you, she’ll laugh with you.” The girl smiled a bit. “Besides, you won’t mess up. We’ll practice until we get it right, I promise. But you have to try it, Amelie. If you don’t try, then you might fall on your bum like I did and it’s gonna hurt.”

They both laughed and made their way to the cafeteria together.

At least not everything about being a teacher sucked. 

 

Harry was distracted throughout the entire photo shoot for the Vogue magazine. As important as this was, his mind was in another world entirely.

The make-up artists had done their best to conceal the sex bruises and nail marks, and now Harry found himself posing in front of the camera, trying on different clothes and whatnot. Not for the first time that day, the flash of the camera made him blink and lose his pose. The camera man sighed, frustrated. 

“Alright, let’s take a break,” Adel announced. The light flickered back to life and Harry left the stool he was sitting in. He met up with his fiancée.

“I’m sorry,” Harry muttered.

“You seem all over the place today, what’s up?” Adel asked, accommodating some hairs on Harry’s head.

“I’m just tired.”

“Well, we have one more hour to go, babe.” His tone wasn’t encouraging, but rather more like a get-your-shit-together type of tone.

Harry nodded. He really needed a distraction.

Harry pretended he needed to use the bathroom, making the camera man groan. He promised he’d be back soon.

Once he locked the bathroom door, he pulled out his phone.

_Should I do it?_

He hesitated but after some time, he pressed the contact’s ‘Call’ button.

 

Louis was sitting on the stage floor, all of the kids doing the same. They had returned from lunch not too long ago, and Louis agreed to give the students a break from work, which they were happily spending talking to each other. Louis had to remind them to keep their voices down.

He was staring at papers he was supposed to be grading from his other classes, when his phone started ringing loudly in his pocket. The entire class of students turned to him and laughed.

“No phones in the class, professor,” a kid names Thomas said, causing even more laughter. 

Louis chuckled as he gave his back to the kids and answered the phone.

His heart skipped about four beats as he recognized Harry’s voice through the phone.

“Harry! How are you? I thought about calling you, too, but responsibilities took the call.”

“Same,” Harry said. “A-are you at work?”

Louis turned his head over his shoulder and saw fifty giggly faces staring at him, eager to know who he was talking to. Louis, who had bonded enough with them by now, gave them a fond stare.

“I am, yeah,” he said. Then he turned to the children and put the phone on speaker. “Say hi to Harry, kids.”

“Hi, Harry!” they all screamed in song.

“Oh my God! Hello!” Harry exclaimed. Even if he couldn’t see him, Louis knew he was smiling from ear to ear. Harry’s weakness was kids.

He took the speaker setting off and put the phone back on his ear.

“I’m sorry if I’m interrupting class,” Harry said.

“No, it’s fine! We were taking a break actually.”

“Oh, good. Um… I was wondering if… um…”

Louis rolled his eyes and smiled.

Harry took a deep breath and then said, faster than Louis would ever have expected Harry to speak: “Doyouwantustomeetafterworkmaybe?”

“What now??”

Harry cleared his throat on the other side of the line. “Do you want us to meet? After work? I’m doing a shoot right now, but I’ll finish in like an hour or so…”

“Yeah, I…,” Louis glanced at his schedule and then at the clock on the wall. He still had to work for three more hours. “I get out at like four. But you can hang around with us here if you’d like,” he added quickly.

“Oh, um… I’d love that, really…”

“Then come! The kids don’t mind, right guys? See? They’ll love you. I’ll text you the address.”

Harry obviously said yes. Louis tried to hide his excitement in front of the class as he put the phone away. He clearly failed, since Claire pointed out he was blushing.

“No, I’m not!”

They laughed.

“Who was it, Mr. Tomlinson?” one of the little boys—Louis hadn’t learned his name yet—said.

“A friend of mine,” Louis answered. “He’s coming to visit us in a while, so why don’t we practice for some more so we can present our act to him when he arrives?” The kids nodded and stood up. “Awesome. Good job guys, this is gonna be great.”

 

The prospect of seeing Harry again made the hour go by faster. They were able to practice the full show before Louis’ phone rang again and Louis left the kids unattended for a minute, ran to the school entrance, and let Harry in.

He was stunning, as always. His hair was all over the place and he was out of breath, though, as if he had been running. Coming to think of it, he probably had.

“Don’t you have a car??” Louis asked.

“It’s Adel’s car, and he needed to go somewhere after work, so I said I could walk. I regret rejecting that ride, now that I think about it.”

Louis grinned and before he could stop himself, he hugged Harry around the neck in a tight deadlock. Harry seemed paralyzed for two seconds, but then his arms moved around Louis’ waist and pressed him tightly to his chest. The feeling of Harry’s breathing against his skin made Louis forget about everything around for a second. They stared at each other once they broke the hug.

“I… The theater is over here, follow me,” Louis blushed.

Harry followed Louis through the hallways of the school until they reached the wooden double doors where the kids were waiting for them. 

They were all on the stage playing around, and when they saw Louis’ company, they stopped talking suddenly. Louis threw Harry a quick glance to see his reaction at being suddenly welcomed by fifty little smiles and waves. Just like he expected, Harry was over-boarding with joy: his dimples were as deep as ever, his white teeth were all visible, his eyes reduced to slits from smiling so hard. This was his Haz. God, Louis loved him so much it hurt.

“Who wants to show Harry here what we’ve been working on?” Louis said, to which he got a whole chorus of approvals. “Okay, let’s do it then! Go, go!”

The kids ran behind the stage, some of them tripping. When they were out of sight, Louis dimmed the lights in the room and turned to Harry. “VIP seat for you and all,” he said motioning Harry to one of the seats on the front row.

“Does everyone get this kind of treatment around here?” Haz asked with a cheeky smile.

“Only the supermodels.”

Harry shook his head and sat down, Louis sitting next to him.

Then the show started.

The children had considerably gotten better since the beginning of class, and Louis was proud of them as well as of himself. He was pretty good as a teacher, which was something he didn’t even know until today. The kids only messed up a few times, and even Amelie sang her part—still shy and looking down, but that was still an incredible improvement. Louis was sure that by Friday, this show would be perfect…

He frowned.

Louis was hit with the sudden realization that this was not where he was supposed to be. This wasn’t his world, and he had forgotten about that for a great part of his morning. Yes, he was good as a teacher. But he wasn’t one, he was a singer.

_I am a singer in One Direction_ , Louis repeated inside his head over and over again. _I am a singer, not a fucking teacher. I am a singer…_

But then the image of these kids, laughing and genuinely happy up on the stage, came to him. What would happen if Louis put everything back the way it was? Would this Grease show happen, even? Probably not. If the wish was unmade, then Louis would return to being a closeted superstar and these kids would not even know who he was, at least not personally.

But I would have Harry and my friends back, Louis thought.

_Although, don’t I have them now?_

Louis looked at Harry sitting next to him, who was deeply involved in the act happening in front of him. He was there alright.

And about his bandmates? Zayn was even closer to him in this alternate universe than in real life, since they hadn’t talked much after he left the band. And Louis inwardly smiled at how he had also found Niall and… Niall… Niall and…

Louis was visibly nervous right now. He felt like throwing up.

Then the name came back to him as if he hadn’t just forgotten what his brother of all these years was called.

Niall and Liam, he breathed. Liam. Niall. Zayn. Harry.

This wasn’t right.

He had only spent three days in this new world and he was already slowly forgetting about his old one! He couldn’t let that happen.

“I’m not a teacher,” he whispered to himself out loud. Unfortunately Harry heard him and frowned in confusion.

“Lou… Everything alright?”

Louis gave him a not-so-convincing nod.

The show ended before them and Harry clapped enthusiastically, still keeping his eye on Louis. Louis clapped too, trying to hide any sign of feeling sick. The children bowed and then the final bell of the day rang.

Harry hugged every single one of the kids as they made their way through the doors, each more than ready to go home. Louis waved at them and also hugged a couple that came to him.

Finally, Harry and Louis were alone in the theater.

“They are amazing, Louis,” Harry beamed at him. “You are an amazing teacher, too. They adore you so much. I don’t get how you say teaching isn’t your thing.”

And just like that, Louis hunched over and threw up all over the carpeted floor.

_Fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything keeps getting so complicated for Louis...
> 
> Hopefully i'll be able to update the next chapter on time. If not, don't worry, i'll update it a bit later :) 
> 
> Thanks for reading!! Leave comments if you want, cause I love reading those :)   
> See you next time <3


	10. Don't Let Me Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MERRY CHRISTMAS, READERS!!!   
> I thought making time for an update would be a nice little gift, right? <3  
> YOUR COMMENTS ARE SO SWEET, IM DEAD 
> 
> Enjoy!!!

Harry drove Louis’ car, with Louis cuddled in the passenger seat, following Louis’ directions for his own apartment. Louis tried convincing him everything was just fine but Harry wouldn’t have it. The blue-eyed lad was inwardly thankful though, because he knew he wouldn’t be able to drive in this state.

He still felt like shit once they reached the building, and he even threw up again inside the lift.

Harry held him close to him by the shoulders, obviously preoccupied. He opened the door for Louis and then sat him down on Louis’ couch.

“Thank you,” Louis whispered. He was shaking and looked miserable.

_I forgot Liam_ , Louis kept thinking. _I fucking forgot Liam…_

“Shhh,” Harry kneeled in front of him, raising his chin up to meet his eyes. “Where do you keep the blankets around here? Is that the bedroom?” Harry pointed at the last room down the hallway. Louis nodded. A few seconds later, Harry came back with a blanket and put it around Louis’ shoulders.

“I can make you some tea maybe,” Harry said. He walked to Louis’ kitchen and started opening cabinets and whatnot until he found all he was looking for. A cup of hot tea was on Louis’ hand not long after.

Louis tried taking a sip but his hand shivered and he spilled some of it on the blanket. Harry then sat down next to him on the couch and held the cup for him, tilting it a little for Louis to take a sip. He then put the cup on the small table in front of them. 

“I’m so sorry,” Louis said in a low voice.

“Hey… You have nothing to apologize for,” Harry rubbed his shoulder.

_I do have to apologize. I have to apologize for forgetting my best friend’s name for a second, I apologize for wishing such a fucked-up wish, I apologize for holding you back when you only want to come out to the public and be free. I apologize for slowly starting to forget all those memories we have, I am so fucking sorry. This is all my fault, I am so sorry, babe…_

Louis’ eyes were getting cloudy with tears, and he sensed Harry getting truly worried now. The green-eyed boy hugged him close and said nothing for a while. He didn’t want to ask Louis what was wrong, even though the question was there in every glance he directed at Louis. 

The colors of the sky were slowly changing, and Louis’ stomach turned at the thought of another day being almost over. A day less to unmake his wish. Four days to go before he would forget about One Direction and about his marriage for real.

“What if we put a movie on or something, hmm?” Harry asked. “Just relax and watch a movie with me, ok? I won’t go anywhere until you feel better.”

Louis nodded.

“Awesome. Where do you keep the films, Lou?”

“On the bottom drawer,” Louis said, and immediately asked himself how in the world he knew that if this wasn’t even his real home. He closed his eyes and concentrated on not throwing up again. 

Harry returned to the sofa with a selection of movies, most of them rom-coms. They agreed on one that Louis hadn’t even bothered to check the title of, and then laid back on the couch as the movie started. Louis’ head was screaming at him too much for him to be able to concentrate on the film, though. Harry realized this and squeezed Louis’ shoulders again half-way through the movie.

“You wanna lay on my lap? That’s fine if you want to…”

Louis answered with a weak “okay” and laid his head on Harry’ thighs. Automatically, Harry’s hand started caressing his hair.

_This is home._

Louis finally relaxed as the memories of Harry and him in that same position came to him. He felt relieved that those memories were still there, clear in his mind… Sometimes, he remembered, Louis would fall asleep like that and wake up the next day to find himself on the bed, evidently transported there by his husband… Other times, Harry would be the one resting his head on Louis’ legs… Sometimes they were both laughing at stupid jokes; other times they would be crying.

Louis closed his eyes and smiled a little.

Harry was his home.

The movie ended and Louis raised his head from the lad’s lap, stretching himself. Harry turned the TV off and returned to Louis’ side.

“Let’s have some dinner, yes?”

Louis smiled at him.

“Shouldn’t you be home by now? Adel is a clean-freak, remember.”

Harry frowned a little bit and then understanding came to him. Apparently he has completely forgotten about the time, and, Louis hoped, about Adel too.

“He can wait,” Harry finally said. Then he added in a mumble of words, possibly hoping Louis wouldn’t hear: “I don’t wanna go yet.”

He looked sad.

Harry opened the fridge and started pulling out whatever left overs Louis had in there, which were not much.

“Someone needs to go grocery shopping,” he chuckled. 

“Harry.”

“Yes?”

Louis stood up from the sofa and walked up to him, still wrapped in the blanket.

“Is everything fine with you and… you know… your fiancée?”

Harry sighed. Louis stared sadly at him. For a moment he thought Harry would say that was none of Louis’ business—which was true—but then the taller boy ran a hair through his hair and shook his head.

“Sometimes I think it is,” he said. “But… I’m not entirely sure anymore. We barely talk about anything other than work. That fucking deal is the only thing in his head, and I’m just… tired.” Louis motioned for him to take a seat on the table and Harry obeyed, Louis sitting in front. “The only intimate moment we have is nighttime, and the only thing we do there is have sex. Like… It doesn’t feel like something I’d like for the rest of my life with someone, you know.”

“But you are still marrying him this Sunday,” Louis added.

Harry stared at him with big, scared eyes. Part of Louis was happy Harry wasn’t sure about the whole marrying-a-douche thing, but the other part understood his pain. He could never imagine what it would be like to be so close to your vows and yet having doubts about such a big step. It all had been pretty clear for Louis when he married Harry, thankfully.

“I just… can’t back down now,” Harry shrugged his shoulders.

Louis placed a hand on Harry’s hand.

“It’s your decision too, Harry. You can’t let this deal bullshit come in the way of what you want. And if that means not committing to marriage yet, then Adel should respect that.”

“Thank you,” the other said. “Mrs. Ryan would be pissed though…”

“Oh, fuck that woman with a cactus! Who cares what she thinks, you’re not marrying her.”

Both let out some laughs at that.

“Besides,” Louis added with a more serious tone, “that deal is technically making you the property of two companies. Property. As in, an object almost… Harry, you are so much more than that. You have so much potential for so many things”—Harry’s eyes were watery now—“and I don’t want to see you reduced to an object for two modeling agencies to exploit. I just can’t allow that. You have a voice, speak up. Don’t let this marriage deal control you.”

Harry smiled to the ground and dried a tear with his free hand.

“I thought I was the one taking care of you.”

“We take care of each other,” Louis said.

“Yeah… I really like that.”

Louis had not been aware of how close their heads were until then. It was fairly dark outside now, and the only light came from the kitchen next to the table, which meant the yellow light outlined Harry’s every feature from where he sat. Louis could see every wrinkle, every eyelash, the contour of Harry’s lips… Harry could probably distinguish every detail on Louis’ face as well. He could just push his head forward a couple of inches and their lips would be touching…

Harry’s phone started ringing and their heads separated. Louis mentally cursed the phone into the abyss. 

“It’s Adel,” Harry whispered. “I… I better go, I guess. Sorry…”

“No, no. I feel much better now, thanks.”

Harry didn’t answer the phone inside the apartment though. He didn’t want Louis to overhear his conversation with Adel, and Louis though that was fair enough. The phone stopped ringing, but Harry mumbled something about calling his fiancée later.

At the door, Harry gave him a tight hug, similar to the one they had shared at the school.

“Eat something, okay?” Harry said before Louis closed the door.

“Yes, mother.”

The model laughed and later disappeared as the lift door closed. Louis stayed still for some time before returning to the now lonely apartment.

 

The drive back to the house seemed hours long. Maybe was. The traffic was extremely dense due to some accident down the road, and Harry found himself driving for five seconds only to be stopped again. 

By the time he parked the car at the front porch, it was already nine in the evening.

Adel was going to demand an explanation for sure.

Harry found his fiancée waiting for him on the living room. He was watching some sports show on TV but turned it off as soon as Harry walked in. As Harry expected, he was angry.

“Where the fuck where you?”

Harry stared silently at the floor.

“I texted you like ten times when I got out of work and you didn’t even read them. I come back home, expecting to find you here, but I find the house alone. When I said you could go wherever the hell you wanted to go after work, I didn’t question it. But right now, I kinda wanna know what my husband has been doing for the past five hours.”

Harry flinched at the last sentence. “I’m not your husband yet,” he said before he could contain himself.

Pause.

“What does that mean?”

“It means, we’re not married yet,” Harry repeated, remembering Louis’ words. _Don’t let this control you._

He knew Adel hated contradiction. He knew he was making him even angrier, yet he stayed his ground. Adel came forward.

“I won’t repeat myself. Where. Were. You.”

“I was hanging out with Louis,” the words rushed out of him.

“That punk again, I see.”

“He’s a really nice person whether you want to admit it or not.”

Harry made his way up the stairs, wanting to end this conversation as fast as he could. Adel, however, wasn’t anywhere near done. He followed Harry to the bedroom, still red from the anger.

“I thought I told you to not see him again, Harry.”

“Well, newsflash: you can’t tell me what to do. I like him a lot, we’re very close friends. So I will keep on seeing him.”

Harry made a turn for the bathroom but Adel caught his arm.

“You like him?”

“Yes. I like him.”

Adel snorted.

“You’ve met him for three days, Harry. Stop being overdramatic.”

“In those three days I’ve had more chemistry with him than I’ve had with any of my ‘friends’, as you call our co-workers.” Harry caught Adel flinch. A sudden wave of disgust flooded over him as he realized why his fiancée had reacted that way. “You heard me,” Harry said. “OUR co-workers.”

With that, he freed himself from the man’s grip and locked the bathroom door behind him.

He needed to think. He wanted to break everything in his reach.

“Let’s talk about this, babe,” Adel called from the other side of the door. He knocked multiple times too. Harry wouldn’t open.

“I don’t think I can do this,” Harry said, breathing in and out to calm himself. He could almost hear Adel’s gasp on the opposite side.

“Babe, open the door.”

The tone was commanding, but also relaxed. Harry opened the door just a crack and his eyes met Adel’s grey ones.

“We’re just one week away. You can’t do this, babe…”

Harry sighed and finally opened the door all the way. 

Adel rushed in and grabbed his jaw, colliding their lips together. Harry did not push him away, but did not respond much either, to which Adel deepened the kiss, making Harry’s lips part apart.

Harry felt himself being dragged out of the bathroom and onto the bed, Adel’s tongue at the back of his throat all the time. As soon as Harry’s head hit the mattress with more force than he expected, he felt a hand slip down his trousers. The hand grabbed his cock and pulled, evidently trying to gain some moans as a response. No, not this again, he thought. He tried to pull Adel’s hand from his trousers but the man’s grip wouldn’t unclench. Only when Adel got distracted by trying to unbutton his shirt with his free hand did Harry’s hands finally managed to find the strength to remove the intrusive one from his privates.

“No… I don’t want this…” Adel ignored it and started unbuckling his belt. He opened up Harry’s legs with his knees. “I said NO.”

“Come on baby, you never refused before.”

“There’s a first time for everything,” Harry said as he got off Adel’s grip and left the room without looking back at the man.

“W-where are you going now?” Adel demanded when, defeated, he followed Harry down the stairs and into the entrance again.

“I just… need some alone time, alright?”

Adel was at a loss for words. He didn’t seem sad, really, but more disappointed. He stared at Harry like that for the entire time until Harry’s car disappeared again from view. 

Harry needed some time away from his own life to put all the pieces back together. He knew something with Adel was definitely not working, and, just like Louis had told him, he had the right to give his opinion on this rushed wedding too. It wasn’t that Harry didn’t want to get married; it was more like he didn’t want to get married because of a business deal instead of love.

And that wasn’t even his only uncertainty.

Part of him wanted to act the good boyfriend and go back to the house, yet a stronger voice inside his head demanded of him to do the opposite, and to keep driving away.

He followed the voice.

_I just can’t let you go, can I?_

 

Louis cursed under his breath when the harsh knocking against his front door started. He had a long day, he was not feeling very good, and he just wanted to sleep.

He finally decided to answer the door, only because the knocking wouldn’t stop. He stood up moodily from bed and checked the clock on the night-stand. He had only slept one hour since Harry left the apartment, and he made himself a mental note to murder whoever dared interrupt his sleep if it wasn’t for a good reason.

As it turned out, the reason stopped mattering so much once he saw the familiar face on the other side of the door… 

 

_Louis’ first real fight with Harry had been pretty ugly…_

_They were both so young, Harry was seventeen and Louis just two years older… It wasn’t very far from that time Louis told Harry he loved him for the first time, actually. That was the irony of it, they said they loved each other and a month later everything seemed like it was falling apart._

_Only seconds after Harry left the flat and slammed the door, Louis almost forgot what they fought about. It was one of those things that seem so unimportant once you do them, and Louis cursed out loud and kicked everything in his reach…_

_It was something about Eleanor and the whole “act straight” drama, Louis remembered. He did not know how it all had escalated so quickly though. How they had started talking about their problems, and minutes later they were screaming at each other from opposite sides of the room, both red in the face. Harry had started throwing things at Louis, too. Small things, like his phone and such. He then had just walked—ran, almost—from the flat, grabbing a jacket on his way out. Louis was left alone, still screaming at Harry a bunch of names, none of which he truly meant._

_And then Louis cried for hours._

_It was around midnight, yet he couldn’t sleep at all. His eyes hurt from crying so much. He took all of Harry’s clothes out of the closet and threw them on the floor, only to immediately grab a few of them and hug them, as if Harry were hiding there somewhere._

_Niall called. Louis’ voice just came in sobs, and soon after Niall told him he would go to the flat, but Louis rejected him. “I want to be alone,” he said. Niall obeyed, but probably told Liam and Zayn because soon they called him too._

_So yes. It had been ugly._

_But it got much better after that._

_Louis had stopped crying when a soft knock came on the door hours later. His eyes still itched and were all puffed up and red, but at least the tears were gone. He had not slept, and it was five in the morning already, and he felt like shit. But he managed to walk up to the front door and open it._

_Harry was there. His eyes were red too, and his cheeks were a bit wet from crying. His hair was a mess, and Louis thought Harry probably noticed this because his hand hurried to his hair to try to tame the curls and make himself more presentable. When he met Louis’ eyes, the greens teared up again._

_“P-please f-forgive me…,” he mumbled in a low voice._

_Louis didn’t care if it was a shit apology. It was Louis’ fault as well, so he apologized as well really fast, and then pulled Harry inside the flat._

_He couldn’t think of a more passionate kiss than the one him and Harry shared that day, at five in the morning, all wet from crying their hearts out the previous night._

_They had unconsciously moved from the door to the bedroom, afraid of letting go in case some other demon came between them. Louis laid Harry on the bed slowly, carefully, and then positioned himself on top of him. He sucked Harry’s neck, leaving a mark there that he later kissed with just his lips. Harry hugged him close and whispered things in his ear, sending shivers all over Louis._

_They stayed like that for a while. They cried, but this time it was because of the promise of never letting go again._

 

Seeing Harry stand of the other side of his apartment door like that, looking all flustered, reminded Louis of that fight. Except this time, Harry came for comfort after an argument with someone else.

Harry briefly explained why he needed some time to re-think everything, or to just be away from his fiancée for at least some days. Adel and him did have a small argument (nothing too serious, he kept assuring Louis), but an argument nonetheless. Harry cursed the goddamn deal with Mrs. Ryan over and over in his brief explanation. Louis tried to keep up with everything he was saying, at the same time trying to hide the smile creeping on his face at the idea of having Harry here again. 

“I need somewhere to stay for the night,” he said, “and you’re the first person that came to mind… But I’ll look for a hotel tomorrow, I promise, I… I don’t wanna cause any trouble…”

“No, no, stay! I-I’d really love to! Please.”

Harry’s dimple appeared and Louis felt a sudden urge to jump and kiss it.

He let Harry in and let him take the bed, while Louis moved to the couch for the night.

“Louis,” Harry called from the bedroom door for the fifth time since Louis accommodated himself on the sofa. “Thank you. Really.”

“No problem, Haz,” Louis said before he could stop himself. “You took care of me earlier, I take care of you. That’s what we do,” he added, hoping Harry hadn’t noticed the nickname. He obviously did, though.

“First Harold, now Haz,” Harry chuckled. “I like it.”

Louis blushed a little.

“Goodnight, Haz.”

“Goodnight, Lou.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harry is finally speaking up for himself against that douche, can I get an "Amen"??
> 
> Thanks for reading, again <3 I hope you liked the chapter, and I hope I find some time to update again pretty soon.   
> See you next time :)


	11. Some Memories Come, Others Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there, loves!!!!  
> Uploading this chapter was a nightmare because the signal over here sucks, but I managed it FINALLY 
> 
> Enjoy!!!!
> 
> PS: I said I was gonna add my twitter on the notes last time and I forgot, so here it is, for those who want it: @ GvDaiana

Harry shifted his head on the pillow.

 

_“Gotcha!” Louis surprised Harry from behind, wrapping his arms around his waist. Harry let out a loud chuckle, just as Louis started tickling him on the ribs._

_“No, Louis,” he couldn’t even breathe from laughing so hard._

_They were outside at the pool, and Louis wouldn’t let Harry get out of the water. It was a bright, sunny, and most important, free, day. They were alone at home, and nothing better than a relaxing time outside to spend a day away from work. Or, as relaxing as it could get with someone making you unable to breathe from laughter 24/7._

_Louis turned Harry around and gave him a peck on the lips. His light brown hair was plastered to his face, all wet, and his blue eyes were brighter than Harry had ever seen them._

_Harry loved his husband so fucking much._

 

Harry smiled in his sleep. He turned his head again.

 

_“Baby… Ah… fuck…”_

_He was holding on so tight to Louis’ back he was sure the nail marks would be there for a decade at least. Louis kept his steady pace, thrusting hard. The bed creaked loudly under both of them, silenced only by their moans from time to time._

_“Does it feel good?”_

_“Y-yes… Fuck, yes,” Harry said. He loved how Louis put Harry’s interests first. He always made sure Harry was fully into the act. And right now, he sure was._

_Louis raised his head a bit and locked his blue eyes with Harry’s green ones. Maybe it was to confirm Harry wasn’t lying, or maybe just to communicate that he loved him, just by that glance. Either way, it magnified the butterflies inside Harry’s stomach an enormous amount._

_They both came with a groan. Louis slowed down his thrusts eventually and pulled out slowly._

_Louis then gave him a million small kisses all around his sweaty face, making Harry grin._

_“I… love… you… so… much,” Louis whispered between each kiss._

_Harry giggled._

_They continued the kisses and love promises all the way to the shower…_

 

Harry’s grip on the blanket intensified.

He breathed in…

 

_Their day at the pool had been amazing, and now their night was amazing too._

_Everything about him is amazing, Harry thought._

_They were both exhausted when they got out of the shower—he had given Louis a well-deserved hand-job there—and now they were cuddled together in bed, Louis caressing Harry’s curls and kissing his forehead. It had been a beautiful, simple day between concerts: pool in the morning, out for lunch at noon, surprise dinner made by Louis, and some love-making to end the night. Harry couldn’t have asked for better._

_“Today was perfect,” he whispered. He felt Louis tightening his hug around his shoulder._

_“It was. Happy 28th, baby.”_

 

By the time Harry finally opened his eyes, he remembered only some parts of his odd dream… That still did not make it any less odd, though.

He opened his eyes to find himself on Louis’ bed, suddenly recalling why he was there in the first place. Then the argument with Adel and all his insecurities flooded his thoughts. He really did not feel like getting up from bed.

He sat down after deciding to give today a go. He ran his hands through his face.

_I dreamed about Louis._

And not just any dream. He dreamed of him and Louis having a good time and fucking, too. Totally (not) normal for someone whose wedding was in just in a few days.

It hadn’t even felt like a dream, which was the worst part. Harry knew there was a connection he felt towards Louis that he couldn’t explain, but he hadn’t expected it to be this strong… He knew damn well it wasn’t normal to have erotic dreams about someone you only met some days ago. Not even someone as attractive, funny, and perfect like Lou—.

_Ok, brain, this is the part where you shut up._

Harry heard a soft knock on the door of the bedroom, followed by Louis’ voice, “Harry?”

“Come in,” he called.

The door opened and Louis entered, holding a tray with a cup of coffee and some biscuits. Harry’s heart swelled up. Adel had never done that for him. In fact, Adel was most times gone in the morning by the time Harry woke up. Waking up to a familiar face now felt incredibly fulfilling, even more with a breakfast tray being carried to him in bed.

“You didn’t have to…,” Harry said, deeply moved by the action.

“I wanted to. I have to treat the guest well, you know.”

Louis left the tray in front of Harry and sat on the side of the bed.

Harry remembered his dream and how he had moaned Louis’ name as the blue eyes thrust into him… He put all his efforts into not imagining Louis naked right then. It kinda worked. Kinda. 

“So,” Louis said, making him look up, “did you sleep well? Are you feeling better or…?”

“I am,” he lied. _It’s not like I just forgot about my boyfriend entirely and had sex with you instead on my mind, it’s definitely not like that._

“Well, I, um… My friend Zayn is picking me up in a little bit,” Louis then said. “He’s taking me to school. It’s a short work day today, and trust me, I’d rather stay home. But Zayn will literally murder me, and the show still needs a few touches here and there… I was wondering if you’d like to come with me, like you did yesterday. Unless you want to go back to your fiancée of course. T-That’s fine, obviously…”

“I do wanna go with you,” Harry smiled. He didn’t even want to think about confronting Adel again, especially not after his guilty conscience.

Louis’ face lightened up at his response.

“Great! Um, Zayn is coming in like, fifteen minutes or so… But I’ll hold him longer so you can get ready and all.”

Harry was about to tell him that wouldn’t be necessary, but his phone started ringing on the bedside table. The name “Adel” flashed on the screen. Harry did not make any attempt to answer the call, though. He stayed still until the ringtone cut itself and the screen of the phone went back to black.

“I’ll pretend I was sleeping,” he murmured.

Louis gave him an understanding glance.

“If it’s of any comfort for the situation you’re in,” Louis said, “I would’ve reacted the same if my husband-to-be had signed a property deal with some rich lady over my wedding…”

Harry chuckled. “It does comfort me a bit.”

“Good. Now, get ready and dressed before Zayn release his wrath.”

“With what? Your clothes are several sizes smaller than mine, in case you haven’t noticed.”

That caused Louis to genuinely laugh, which brought up the wrinkles by the eyes and nose that Harry had learned to love in these last days.

“Alright, sass me out early in the morning. I see how it is. You can wear the blue sweater you gave me that day at your house. I’m sure that one will fit you better than what I have.”

“Okay, I’ll do that.”

“Do it fast though.”

“Yes, mum,” Harry called before the door completely closed.

He tried to ignore the butterflies in his tummy.

_Goddamn you, Louis Tomlinson._

 

Louis had a plan.

His time was running out faster than he expected. It was already Wednesday, and Harry hadn’t showed any signs of remembering his real life. At least not that Louis knew about…

Either way, he knew he had to think of something else, he had to step up his game a tiny bit. He had thought about this all night, considering where his chances laid at. So far, he had many things in favor: Harry was finally starting to see how much of a money-seeking douche Adel was, which was marvelous; he had bonded with Haz pretty strongly, which he had no doubts would happen eventually, but it was a big plus nonetheless; and no less important, he had also befriended Niall, Liam and Zayn in this new world, which was going to be the key point to his plans for the day.

He had to reunite the band.

He pondered over it in his head a million times yesterday before giving in to sleep, and right now it seemed like his best option. And not just to spark something in Harry, Niall, Liam, and Zayn, but also to keep his own spark from blowing out… Louis hadn’t forgotten about not remembering Liam back at the school theater. He still felt guilty about that, even though it wasn’t really his fault that the stupid fountain of wishes was making it harder on him. 

_Who asked for the wish in the first place though?_

Okay, maybe it was his fault.

The thing was, if he could maybe try for his friends to remember each other, or at least feel that strong connection they had, Louis felt he had more chances of one of them believing his crazy story, and of him not forgetting his friends either. It was a plan that would benefit him either way, so why not.

Besides, it would be a beautiful thing to witness, his closest friends having a laugh like the old times. And with Zayn again. That was possibly one of the best aspects of it: it’d be as if their grudges against Zayn finally vanished completely.

Louis took a deep breath as he sat down on the table to finish his breakfast.

Harry finally came out of the bedroom, dressed with the blue sweater and the same pair of jeans he had on before, and sat down to wait for him.

“So, this Zayn guy,” he said, “does he work with you?”

“Yeah, he’s the English teacher at school,” Louis had his story memorized by now. “You’ll like him, I’m sure. He seems quiet at first, but he’s a sweetheart.” 

Someone knocked on the door, and Louis couldn’t contain his grin much longer. He stood up from the chair and unlocked the door, smiling encouragingly at Harry to do the same.

And then, he opened it.

“Finally you’re ready on time!” the dark-haired man exclaimed as he hugged Louis briefly. Over Louis’ shoulder, the brown eyes opened up in curiosity as he spotted the third man in the room. Louis beamed at them.

“Uh, Zayn… This is a friend of mine, Harry. Harry, Zayn.”

Louis stared as both men exchanged greetings, careful to watch their faces for any sign of recognition. There was certainly some new light in both green and brown eyes, and Louis smiled tenderly. He wasn’t aware of how much a reunion between Harry and Zayn after so many years would affect him.

Once Harry and Zayn had introduced to each other, Louis told the English teacher that Harry was coming with them to school. Something like an internship, Louis explained. Zayn just shrugged his shoulders and let Harry sit at the back of the car, with Zayn on the wheel and Louis next to him in the front.

Louis noticed the questioning glances Zayn was throwing at him all during the ride.

“How did you two meet again?” he asked.

“At the fashion show last Sunday,” Harry beamed.

Zayn looked at him through the rearview mirror.

“Are you a model or something? You are fit”—Louis hit Zayn on the arm with the back of his hand, causing some chuckles from the back seat—“What! He’s gorgeous, okay? I have eyes.”

Harry blushed.

“T-thanks,” he said. “I am a model, yes.”

“I knew it!”

They made the curb that got them into the façade of the school building.

“I was thinking of spending some time together, actually,” Louis tried to sound as if he wasn’t rooting for this reunion. He hoped he was convincing enough. He turned to Zayn: “You, me, Harry, and also two other friends I’d like you to meet.”

Zayn parked the car and unbuckled his seatbelt as he flashed his perfect white teeth at Louis.

“Since when are you so friendly?”

“Oh, shut up. I am friendly. I was just… having mood swings these last days.”

Zayn chuckled. “I wasn’t aware you were on your period, sorry.”

Louis rolled his eyes. Harry giggled.

While they walked their way through the parking lot, Zayn pulled Louis aside a little bit.

“So you left Dean for this work of art, I don’t blame you,” he whispered.

“Shhh, you’ll scare him away, you creep… Besides, he’s my type, not yours.”

Zayn snorted. “So you are an expert in my type. Calm down, Cupid.”

“I’ve known you for many years, Z. I’m 100% sure of what you like to shag.” _Cough, Liam, cough._

“Well, I wouldn’t mind shagging those long legs.”

Louis had to take a hand to his mouth to silence his laughter. He wished Harry hadn’t overheard that.

“I’m serious, though,” Louis said as they made their way into the building. The trio stopped at the intersection of the hallways, where they would go on different ways toward their classrooms. “I want this. I want some friend-time. I have been a shit best friend these days, let me repair that.”

Zayn’s eyes sparkled. Louis knew he would agree to go no matter what. “It sounds like a great idea. Is the walking statue of David gonna be there, then?” Zayn added a bit louder for Haz to hear this time.

Louis pretended he hadn’t just witnessed Zayn making Harry blush for the billionth time that morning and turned to the green eyes.

“Do you want to hang around with us after work? Please say yes.”

Harry’s eyes softened. “Of course,” he replied.

Louis knew this day was going to be worth the wait.

 

“He seems familiar,” Harry said during the five minute break Louis had given the class.

Louis looked up from the papers he was organizing on his desk.

“What?”

“Zayn, I mean. He seems familiar.”

Louis put the papers down and turned toward Harry. 

“Familiar, as in… You’ve known each other before or…?”

_Let’s cross fingers._

“Yeah, kinda.”

Eureka!

“Oh well,” Louis said. “He went to audition at X-Factor, like you, so maybe you guys met there…”

“He sings?”

It hadn’t escaped Louis how Harry’s entire face always lit up whenever the topic of singing was mentioned. It was clear to anyone with two eyes that Harry’s passion for singing overlapped that of modeling. He just was insecure about his abilities, not having developed them much. 

“He does sing,” Louis nodded slowly. “He’s a bit shy about it. Like you.”

Harry gave him a sad nod.

“Don’t think I forgot about what we said at the park that day,” Louis continued. “About singing to each other one day. I’m still holding you accountable for that.”

That seemed to lighten Harry’s mood again.

Then Amelie came out of nowhere and jumped onto Harry’s lap, making the latter laugh. 

Louis was truly surprised at the huge progress the little girl had archived in her social skills, especially with Harry. Louis knew kids were always fascinated by Haz for some reason, so this shouldn’t be a surprise. But this time Louis had played a considerable part in helping her, though, so her progress did surprise him. A lot. The girl was still visibly shy when her turn to sing came, but she was overcoming her fears pretty fast.

Louis smiled as he watched Harry tickle Amelie. Not long after, ten more children were crowding Harry, all wanting their turn in the tickle machine. Harry patiently took his time with each of them.

 

_“Look at his giggle! Oh my God, he is cute!”_

_Louis, endeared, gave his husband the fond face he always gave him whenever Harry’s cuteness was just too much for him to bear. Harry kept hiding his face from Ernest as Louis’ baby brother snickered like there was no tomorrow._

_“He looks like you,” Harry commented, eyes still locked on the baby inside the crate._

_Louis came closer to his husband and wrapped his hands around his waist, pulling their bodies together. He planted a quick kiss on his back._

_“Not in front of the baby, you silly,” Harry said._

_“It’s just a lil’ kiss, Harold.” He planted another one on the back of Harry’s neck, making the man shiver._

_Harry ignored his show of affection and kept playing with the baby._

_“I’ve been thinking about it, you know,” Louis heard himself say out of the blue. He felt Harry turn stiff._

_“About what?”_

_“About… This,” he gestured toward the entire room enveloping the two of them and Ernest._

_Harry’s face when he slowly turned around to meet Louis’ stare was priceless. His green eyes got watery with joy as he covered his mouth with his hands. Louis smiled at him, the wrinkles in his eyes more pronounced now._

_“You mean it?” Harry gasped._

_Louis nodded. He spoke in a low voice so his little brother wouldn’t get startled. “I wouldn’t want this with anybody else, Haz. Just with you. We’ve been married for years now, and… If we can make it…, starting a family with you would be a dream come true. We could adopt a baby, you and I. Only if you’re ready.”_

_Harry doubled over in a mixture of tears and chuckles, trying to not jump of excitement and make the baby boy cry._

_“Yes! Yes, yes, yes! I… I would love that… so much! I’m… Gosh, you’re making me cry for fuck’s sake…”_

_“Oi, no cursing in front of the baby.”_

_Harry let out a loud chuckle and wrapped his arms around Louis. The latter held him just as tight._

_They didn’t let go._

 

They hadn’t been able to adopt, obviously.

Louis couldn’t exactly remember what happened after that day at his mum’s, with Ernest, but it was pretty clear he and Haz had not formed a family as they had planned.

Louis recalled him and Harry crying for days, begging management, searching the Internet for anything that could help them in the case, talking to lawyers… At the end, management won, however. They tended to get away with trying to make their lives miserable for the sake of ratings, Louis thought. He did promise Harry they would have a family one day, when both of them were free.

But then the hiatus happened, during which Louis’ insecurities escalated.

_My insecurities always ruin everything._

He hated thinking about it.

Amelie’s giggles brought him back to earth. Harry was staring at him with worried eyes. He stared at him like that for the rest of the lesson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of ot5 next chapter....our lads reunite :')
> 
> Until then, thanks for reading!!! 
> 
> See you next update <3


	12. Don't Forget Where You Belong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!!! Sorry I didn't update yesterday, I got home super late!! But here I am now, so all's good :) 
> 
> As promised, lots of ot5 <3  
> And....... some bonus small ziam moment <3 
> 
> ENJOY!!

Convincing Niall to come had been child’s play. Louis did not even need to repeat himself or provide any explanation; Niall accepted to hang out at Louis’ apartment in no time. He also agreed to convince Liam of coming too. That was fairly easy to accomplish as well, since wherever Louis went, there was Liam to protect him. Sure enough, Niall called a bit later, saying Liam would be there with them.

So far, so good.

At around four in the afternoon, the theater class finished, Louis was again in Zayn’s car, with Harry behind them, driving back to Louis’ flat.

Louis was aware of Harry’s stare at the back of his head the whole time, but tried to not draw more attention to it. Zayn sensed a change in the overall mood, though, as if there was something wrong, and kept silently questioning Louis about it.

And the truth was, maybe there was something wrong. Maybe this 1D reunion Louis had in mind was worthless. How was he so sure it would spark some flame of old memories in the lads? He didn’t know, that was the case. Still, Louis knew he would feel much better about this whole mess if he could have all of his best friends in one room for once this week. Just in case he forgot them for real after Saturday, and this was the last time One Direction would be together…

He shook his head, telling his brain to fuck off.

He shouldn’t be thinking so negatively.

“You look like a ghost,” Zayn commented, eyes on the road.

“I’m… chilly, that’s all.”

“Right.”

Zayn closed his window, throwing Louis a glance that said ‘are you less chilly now, you liar?’ Louis just ignored him. Some minutes later, once they got through the traffic of the afternoon, the trio stopped by the now familiar building and took the elevator to Louis’ floor.

“So, what is it we’ve got planned for the rest of the day?” said Zayn, dropping his weight of the sofa once inside the flat.

“Good question, actually.”

Louis opened the fridge, finding nothing but milk, eggs, and some ice cream in there. He felt a taller figure creep behind him and chuckle.

“I told him he needed to go grocery shopping,” Harry said.

“I’ll tell Niall to bring the drinks, I guess…”

“Nah, he’s the guest!” Zayn interrupted, getting off the couch. “I’ll go buy some. There’s a store not far from here, so it’ll only take a second.” He then got closer to Louis and when Harry wasn’t looking, he added with a wink: “I’ll leave you two.”

Louis grinned as Zayn left the apartment again. He was alone with his Haz now.

“You were right,” Harry casually said after a while, “I like him.”

“Zayn? Yeah, he’s great. Wait till you meet Liam and Niall. You’ll love them too.”

The green-eyed boy chuckled, but then his smile turned serious.

“Why were you upset at school? And in the car ride?”

“Upset? I wasn’t,” Louis shrugged his shoulders, trying to seem cool. He should have known by now that he was clearly a shit liar.

“I’m not stupid, Lou. I saw your face get all gloomy after I was playing with the kids.”

Louis let out a sigh, defeated.

Could he attempt to be a bit honest with him now that they were alone? He couldn’t tell him the entire truth straight away, but he could give Harry some hints…

Louis took Harry by the arm and guided him towards the couch. Harry didn’t put any force, and sat down, frowning at Louis, confused. He was worried too. Those green eyes penetrated his soul whenever he was worried about Louis. He had always said it, Harry could literally read through him.

“Can I tell you something…?”

Harry’s face remained with a frown but his eyes lightened up just a bit.

“Of course. You can tell me anything, Louis. Always.”

Louis smiled weakly. “In that case… The reason why I was upset earlier is because I remembered something. Someone, rather.”

Harry shifted in his seat. He motioned Louis to keep going.

“I used to be married, Harry. To someone that I still love very much. He… was very much like you, you know…” Louis swallowed and paused for a second. Harry gave him his whole attention. “He loved kids so much. We planned to have a family someday, but that never happened. There were too many things in between.”

Harry’s hand rested on top of Louis’ on the couch. They were next to each other. Louis recalled Harry’s fight with him that night at the fountain.

“We, um… We had a fight. A stupid argument, but it somehow ended up terribly wrong. I fucked up.”

Harry swallowed. “I’m sorry, Lou.”

“It’s fine. It was… a while ago,” Louis said.

_Only like four days ago actually, but my husband is staring right at me right now, so I’m feeling better._

“At least now you know you’re not the only one with marriage difficulties,” Louis joked. Then he added, with a more serious tone: “Love is hard. Both parties gotta work at it if they wanna work together.”

“Maybe I don’t wanna work it…”

If they hadn’t been so close to each other in the dimly lit living room, Louis would have missed it. As they were sitting close, however, Harry’s words, even though mumbled and in a whisper, were caught by Louis’ ear. Louis’ heart skipped a bit.

“What do you mean?”

Harry seemed surprised he had said his last remark out loud.

“I…,” he mumbled, green eyes on the floor, “I’m not sure if I wanna work things with him. I thought I wanted but… Many things happened these last days, and I…”

“Is this about not wanting to marry him?”

“It’s more than that.” Harry raised his eyes now and locked them on Louis’. “It’s as if I don’t even know if Adel and I are fit for each other anymore. It sounds completely insane, I know, because I was so in love with him a week ago… But what if I wasn’t? What if I just thought that was how love felt like?”

Harry fell silent after his small rant, but his eyes never left Louis. For the purpose of conversation, Louis cleared his throat.

“You just know what love feels like when you find it, Haz. It’s like… an instant connection. You won’t miss it, I promise.”

“What if I didn’t… miss it?”

The way Harry’s eyes burned through him sent shivers down Louis’ spine. Louis was suddenly aware of Harry’s thumb caressing his hand slowly, almost unconsciously. He was aware of their breathing in the silent room, and of how both of their lips parted apart. 

Louis cautiously tilted his head to the side… and Harry did the same. They moved their heads even closer.

Louis wasn’t sure that Harry loved him yet, but he had at least felt that connection there was between them both. Even if he still didn’t remember his previous life, Harry still acknowledged his feelings for Louis. And Louis just wanted to kiss him and tell him that yes, they did belong together, no matter what life they were in. 

He would have done it, had it not been by the knock at the door.

_Fuck my life. First a phone, and now a knock. That’s just my luck._

Harry, blushing, moved apart from Louis as the latter stood up to open the door to the guests.

Niall was smiling from ear to ear. He burst through the door and swung his arms around Louis, knocking the air out of the latter.

“I missed you in these last days,” he said, pressing Louis even harder.

Liam came into view just behind Niall and gave Louis a friendly nod.

“He’s been talking about you every hour since we left you at the hotel on Monday,” Liam said. “I’m not joking.”

“So what?” Niall turned toward the brown-eyed man. “You can’t deny he’s awesome. I’m sure you missed him too.”

Liam wanted to seem unbothered, apparently, but when Niall turned around again, Louis saw a fond smile form on Liam’s lips.

“And who’s this?” Niall asked when he spotted Harry in the room. Harry remained quiet throughout the exchange of greetings, and Louis felt a bad about him maybe feeling left out. He motioned for Harry to come closer, and he did. 

“Niall, Liam. This is Harry. He was a model at the show we met on, Niall.”

That sparked something in Niall’s eyes. “Oh, now I remember you! You two were dancing together, right? Is he your boyfriend?” he added to Louis, whose face lit up an entire set of red undertones.

“Um, friend, actually.” _Husband, more like._

“Oh. Well, hello!”

Harry was also deeply blushed. He shook Niall’s and Liam’s outstretched hands. Louis was hoping for a new light in either one of the lads’ eyes, something that could mean they remembered something about each other… But he found nothing. They all shook hands as the perfect strangers they were supposed to be. 

The four of them sat around the coffee table in the living room, and soon started small conversation. It was all mainly introductions between each other. Harry told Liam and Niall about his modeling career, and Niall and Liam talked about their jobs as well. 

Niall, Louis was able to learn, had no actual job in this alternate reality. He just jumped here and there, looking for a start in the music industry. He had even brought his guitar with him, in case new song ideas popped up, he said. Liam rolled his eyes fondly at him.

“And what about you, Liam?” Louis asked.

“I’m a policeman,” he said.

Louis opened his eyes in surprise. Payno? A policeman? “No way.”

“Yes… I am. I’m taking a small vacation, though.”

Niall nodded in agreement.

“How else do you think he got us out of jail after the fashion show?” Niall laughed.

Liam turned serious. “And I won’t do that for you again. I got in trouble for that, you know.”

“Why are you taking a break then?” Louis turned to Liam, who shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s stressful,” the man simply said. “I always loved the idea of helping people. But a job like this comes with a price. I want to find other things that interest me in life, too…”

Louis remained speechless, convinced he couldn’t have heard correctly. The Liam he knew was maybe serious, at least when you first met him, but he wasn’t a don’t-break-the-law type of guy. He was the one who always put out the fights between the bandmates and took care of them all, but a policeman? That was a reach. Not forming the band had transformed Liam into a much less friendly, much more serious Liam.

Louis was awakened from his shock trance when the door knob turned and another figure came in the room.

“Sorry, there was a bit of a line,” Zayn closed the door behind him and placed the drinks on top of the kitchen counter. He walked with a smile toward the group seated on the couches. “I’m Zayn, a friend of Louis’…”

Louis grinned when Zayn stopped talking, his face blushing.

_That’s what I’m talking about._

Zayn’s eyes brightened at the sight of Niall, and flickered a little at the sight of Harry, who he had met before. But when Zayn’s eyes truly shined and his face deadpanned was at the sight of Liam.

Niall waved from his seat, and Harry smiled at Zayn. Liam, however, stood up mechanically.

“Hi. I’m Liam.”

Niall and Louis chuckled.

“Umm… Zayn. I-I’m Zayn.”

The two dark eyed men shook hands awkwardly. Then Liam pushed Niall toward the other end of the sofa so that Zayn could sit. The latter one sat down, next to a grumpy Niall and to a radiant-looking Liam.

“Pssst,” Harry whispered to Louis once the conversation started again and Liam and Niall were distracted by a story Zayn was telling them, “You know that instant connection you were talking about…, about knowing when you find love?” Louis nodded. “I think your friends Zayn and Liam just found it.”

 

By evening the five friends were as close as brothers, just like Louis knew they were.

The apartment, especially the living room, was chaos. There were pizza boxes, some empty, some not, all over the place, cups in every counter top, and they were starting to get really tipsy with the drinks. But among all the mess, Louis couldn’t feel more at home. 

“Alright lads, let’s spice things up,” Niall said, taking his guitar from behind the couch.

“It’s nine in the evening, Niall. The neighbors will kill us,” Zayn commented, although Louis thought Zayn was more ashamed of singing than of actually bothering the neighbors. 

“Don’t give me that crap. I brought me guitar with me all the way here, so ya’ll better sing something.”

“A lads’ night turned into a karaoke party, I like it,” Liam laughed. Liam definitely had enough drinks in his system, because his previous seriousness was gone. 

Louis turned to Harry. “You promised we would hear each other sing once, right?”

“I might be regretting that promise,” Harry chuckled.

“Better now than never.”

“C’mon, Zayn,” Niall was trying to encourage the other lad to sing along to a verse from a Shawn Mendes song that Louis didn’t even know the lyrics to.

Liam sang along a little bit, but then they all got quiet and let Niall finish the verse.

Louis smiled fondly at them. Everyone was too shy to start it off, even with all the alcohol they had consumed. 

Harry’s smile was wide and his dimples were popping more than ever, yet he turned red whenever he tried to sing some notes. Same with Zayn. Only Niall was fully into it.

“So ya’ll are gonna leave me be, uh? Okay, I see.”

Niall started to play some random chords, changing them every once in a while. The rest got into a small chat again, but Louis paid attention to the Irish lad and how he smiled to himself whenever there was a note there he liked.

“You write songs too, or do you just sing covers?” Louis asked him.

“I’ve tried writing some, but they’re usually just snippets,” Niall said without taking his eyes off the guitar strings.

“Play something of your own. I wanna hear it. Even if it’s just chords.”

Niall grinned at him and positioned his hand on a different note.

He started strumming.

And Louis’ heart skipped a beat.

He would recognize that song anywhere.

Niall stopped playing all of a sudden and threw a worried glance toward Louis, who was at the point of crying from happiness, his hands covering his mouth.

“Whoa, you okay mate?”

“Y-Yes! I-I love it, Niall.”

“I’ve only played like two chords mate, calm down,” he laughed.

Louis cleared his throat. “D-Do you have lyrics for it?”

“No, not really… It’s just a strumming that’s been stuck in my head for a while. Haven’t given much thought to it.”

“Well, um, let’s sing something to it! I’m sure it’ll make a wonderful song.”

Niall smiled once more and resumed his strumming.

Louis’ heart was about to explode. Here he was, losing hope about his friends ever remembering what their lives were supposed to be like, and Niall was unconsciously playing One Direction songs in his guitar. And such a fit song for the occasion, too. 

This fucking wish fountain can’t keep us apart from each other for too long, he thought. There were still hints of memories here and there. Louis was slowly forgetting his other life, but at the same time his friends were slowly remembering it.

“Been in a lot of places… I’ve been all around the world…”

Harry, Liam and Zayn stopped talking and turned to Niall, the three of them moving their heads to the beat. Niall kept trying different lyrics until he landed on a first set of verses he really liked.

“That sounds good!” Liam said, clapping when Niall made a small pause.

“I know right?!” Niall exclaimed. 

“Sounds familiar, too…”

Niall’s face dropped at that. “Well. If it’s already invented, then screw me.”

“No, no! It’s not… I haven’t heard it before, but at the same time I feel like I know it. That type of thing.”

“Oh, okay.”

Niall started strumming once more, but this time it was Liam who started singing. Just like Louis remembered.

“Been a lot of places…

I’ve been all around the world,

Seen a lot of faces…

Never knowing where I was…

On the horizon… Mmm well I know I know I know I know the sun will be rising…

Back home…”

They all clapped at him, including Louis, and Liam bowed. Zayn was just mesmerized by Liam’s voice, and Louis couldn’t blame him.

Almost instantaneously, Niall jumped in:

“Living out of cases…

Packing up and taking off…

Made a lot of changes,

But not forgetting who I was.

On the horizon… Oh and I know I know I know I know the moon will be rising…

Back home.”

Louis was trying so hard not to cry now.

Niall and Liam high-fived each other and Zayn and Harry cheered them up.

“I better write that down somewhere,” Niall said. Then, when he couldn’t find something to write with, he added: “I’ll just record it with my phone, then,” and he started strumming again.

They practiced it again—Liam screw up once, but laughed it off and continued—and then Niall changed the pattern a little bit. Then Niall, Liam, and Louis (who knew the song by heart) started in unison:

“Don’t forget where you belong… Home…”

Zayn and Harry weakly joined in.

“Don’t forget where you belong… Home…

If you ever feel alone, don’t…

You are never on your own…

And the proof is in this song.”

Louis could see Harry starting to build up courage. Niall nodded at him in an encouraging gesture and Harry’s eyes lit up. His voice filled the room next, his dimples very pronounced:

“I’ve been away for ages

But I’ve got everything I need…

I’m flicking through the pages

Written in my memory… 

I feel like I’m dreaming… Oh so I know I know I know I know that I’m never leaving, no…

I won’t go…”

This time the five voices were loud through the chorus. Niall simply couldn’t stop smiling like a kid. His eyes weren’t even on the stings anymore. If felt like he knew the chords perfectly now. Even when the bridge came, the chords came naturally to him.

Louis elbowed Zayn to signal him that their part in the song was coming. Zayn opened his eyes in protest but then realized it was too late to back down once Louis started singing.

“Lights off when they should be on Even stars in the sky look wrong…”

“Short days but the lights are long When I think of the things I’ve done…”

“Don’t matter how far I’ve gone…”

“I’m always free to run… Home…”

Harry started clapping to the beat when the chorus came again, happier than ever.

Louis was prepared for what was coming next, but the rest of the lads’ faces showed every sign of surprise when Zayn added his characteristic high note at the end. Zayn just smiled and blushed, continuing to add certain harmonies to the song.

By the end of Niall’s strumming, the five of them cheered and exchanged compliments. Louis couldn’t have asked for better.

“Oh my fucking God,” Niall kept saying, even minutes after the song ended. “That was insane! Good thing I recorded it! Fuck. Not to brag or anything, but we’re fucking awesome."

The rest laughed.

“I agree,” Louis added.

“For real! It came so naturally too… I’m just… Wow.”

Niall asked for all of their numbers and sent copies of the recording to everyone’s phone. The others pretended to be annoyed by Niall’s constant remarks about always wanting to be in a band.

Everyone seemed content about their musical capabilities. But then Liam’s face changed completely. He went from a smile to a frown and turned to Louis.

“Wait… didn’t you say something about a band when we first met you…?”

_For fuck’s sake Payno. You had to bring it up now?_

Louis pretended he didn’t hear him the first time over the chatter, but then Zayn caught his attention too.

“Oh the fuck not,” he said. “Louis, please tell me this has nothing to do with that rant you had last weekend.”

“What rant?” 

Pretending was stupid, since Louis well knew he had attempted to tell the truth to Zayn, Liam and Niall. Something from those conversations was retained in his friends’ brains, of course. 

“About this band you said you were a part of,” Zayn elaborated. His dark eyes penetrated Louis for a second, and then he let out a humorless chuckle: “Unbelievable. I thought you were over that, Lou.”

“Over what?” Niall interrupted.

“Remember what he told us when we met him?” Liam said to Niall, whose eyes drowned in understanding now. Only Harry seemed completely lost.

Then Zayn spoke again.

“You set us up for this, really? Louis! You said that this band, whatever it was called, was formed by you, me, and three other guys. And if I remember correctly now, those others were Liam, Niall, and Harry. Funny coincidence.”

Louis’ face was red and his skin grew hotter by the second.

They were all bonding, they were all having a great time. Why did it always have to go downhill for him?

Liam, Niall, and Zayn were standing up now, a mixture of fear, concern, and confusion in their faces. Louis didn’t even dare to look at Harry.

“What’s this about, Louis?” Zayn asked. His voice was calm but also demanding, and intimidating. “Why did you set us up? Was it to prove your story or…?”

“Listen,” Louis said, “I know it sounds crazy, but you have to believe me, guys…”

“Believe what, man?? That none of this is real? This isn’t the goddamned Matrix, Louis; you are scaring me.”

“Ask Liam or Niall, Zayn! I proved to them that I knew them, didn’t I?” He turned to the other pair, but both were extremely shocked to even speak. _Guess I’ll have to deal with the moody one all by myself._

“Louis…,” Zayn came closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Louis wasn’t aware of when he had stood up from his seat. “Louis, please… I can try to help you, but you gotta calm down…”

“I don’t need fucking help, Zayn! I’m not crazy, I’m telling you guys the truth.”

Zayn sighed. “I don’t know why you started acting like this, but you do need help, Lou… I know someone who—.”

“Get out. Just… Please.”

Louis was starting to have a massive headache, and he didn’t mean to sound rude, but the ache did not help. Judging by Zayn’s face, he was too harsh.

“Lou…”

“You… don’t get it.”

Zayn looked hurt. Still, he grabbed his coat and headed for the door. He didn’t slam it shut or anything, he just closed it slowly behind him, not without throwing Louis an apologetic glance.

The room was uncomfortably quiet. 

It wasn’t long after Niall and Liam also left the flat, with the same worried glances Zayn had.

Louis would have screamed had he not realized there was still Harry in the room. He came closer to Louis and, quite unexpectedly, pulled Louis into a tight, warm hug.

“I can’t say I understand what’s going on,” Harry whispered near Louis’ neck, “and I suppose you don’t wanna tell me…”

Louis felt it was better to stay quiet. He was scared that if he did talk, that if he did try to explain everything to Haz, he would lose him too. And he just couldn’t afford to do that. He already lost him as a husband, he couldn’t lose Harry as a friend also. 

He pressed his face deeper into Harry’s chest. The taller man caressed his hair slowly.

Louis got lost in that scent of roses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANKS FOR READING!!!! And thanks for your patience lol 
> 
> Sorry for that zouis fight :'( 
> 
> See you next time, darlings :)


	13. Bachelor Parties

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooooooo Let's start 2018 with an update, yes?  
> Enjoy!!!!!  
> <3

Harry woke up with the recent image of his new odd dream, pretty similar to the one he had about Louis yesterday. This one wasn’t about sex, though, thankfully for his conscience, but it was still odd nonetheless. In the dream, he and Louis were both decorating a house. Their house, Harry guessed. He remembered letting Louis pick all the colors and decorations, and just laughing it off, even though Louis had questionable choices sometimes when it came to decorating. Harry still had felt happy just to let Louis pick everything. Then dream-Louis turned around and kissed him fully in the lips. Dream-Harry kissed back. And then Harry woke up just when he spotted a brand new ring on his own ring-finger…

So yes, it had been odd, but maybe not as inappropriate as the previous dream.

But then there was that part of him that had wanted to strip dream-Louis’ clothes down.

Harry rubbed his eyes. The room came back into focus.

He had fallen asleep in Louis’ apartment, again. He found himself on the floor of the living room, with a bunch of mattresses underneath him and a soft pillow under his head. Next to him, there was the sofa. And on the sofa, he found the sleeping figure of Louis, breathing soundly in the silence of the room.

So they fell asleep together, basically.

_No, not together. He’s on the couch and I’m on the floor. There’s a difference._

Shaking his head, he got up as quietly as he could and checked the time.

7:30 AM.

He went to the bathroom and came back to the kitchen, his stomach aching for some nice fulfilling breakfast.

Of course there’s nothing in the fridge, he thought. He checked again on Louis’ sleeping form.

“You stay sleeping there, I’ll be right back.”

Careful so as to not make noise, he grabbed his belongings and walked out of the flat.

According to what he heard from Louis, there was a store not far from the building, so Harry proposed himself to find it. It didn’t take him too long, fortunately. It was a small food market, empty at that hour except for the old man at the register.

He did not even know what Louis would wish for breakfast, so he just went with his senses and got some coffee, milk, and some cereals that he loved and hoped Louis would like as well.

As soon as he placed the items on top of the register counter, he felt a buzz inside his pocket. He removed his phone from there and checked the number on the screen. It was Adel.

“One second, please,” he told the old man behind the counter as he turned around to answer the call.

“Harry! You’ve disappeared. Where are you?”

Harry sighed. “I’m… at a hotel in town,” he lied. He didn’t want to start the conversation about Louis again. “Just needed some alone time, babe. I hope you understand.”

“I don’t, really. But whatever works for you, darling,” Adel said. There was a pause. Then he continued. “Is everything alright between us? I’m very sorry about how I reacted that night. I truly am.”

It was hard to judge if he was lying or not through the phone, but Harry decided he sounded honest enough. He smiled weakly.

“I know. Everything’s fine, I promise.”

That had to be the most obvious lie he ever told, but Adel either didn’t get it or didn’t care.

“I can’t wait for Sunday,” Adel commented. “How is the wedding planning going?”

“Oh, umm… It’s going well. I just need to pick up my suit from the tailor.”

“Nice! I’m preparing everything here too. It’s gonna be great.”

Harry partly wished the phone call would end there, but then Adel spoke again.

“I called you not just to check on you, but also to ask your permission on something, actually. I’ve realized I’ve been drifting in my own current these days and not asking your opinion in anything, so I want to change that.”

“Oh,” Harry was perplexed. “W-what is it?”

“Some friends from work want to throw me a bachelor party before the wedding,” Adel said. “Is that okay with you, babe?”

Harry’s face fell, dumbstruck. 

Their marriage was obviously not a hundred percent fine. Harry saw it, but Adel was for some reason blinded by the whole thing, and he couldn’t see something was wrong. Harry was about to scream, but then decided that he couldn’t deny his fiancée the pleasure of a bachelor party, so he went against his own wish.

“Yes, of course you can.”

“Thank you, darling.”

“When is it?”

“Today and tomorrow,” Adel answered mechanically, as if expecting what Harry would ask. “Sorry for the late announcement. It’s just that Barry came up with the idea today, and well! We’ll be spending these two days in his vacationing house. That’s like four hours from here.”

“Okay…”

“I gotta go now, gotta tell them the good news,” he laughed. “See you Saturday morning for rehearsals, babe. I love you.”

Harry muttered a weak “Love you too” before the line went dead.

_Leaving the partner right before the wedding. What a typical sign of a frail marriage._

 

“Good morning,” Harry greeted as Louis woke up.

He carefully took the tray with the coffee and cereals, just like Louis had done for him the first night he stayed over.

Harry had couldn’t contain himself from staring. Louis was truly a beautiful sight this early in the morning. He fell asleep with the same clothes from last night, but his shirt was all twisted here and there. His hair was all over the place, and his cheeks were flushed. He gave a small yawn and rubbed his eyes. Then he smiled up at Harry.

“You didn’t have to,” he said. “You’re the guest here, not me.”

“Someone needed to do the shopping anyways,” Harry shrugged.

Louis started drinking his coffee with pleasure.

“I am super late for work, am I?” Louis chuckled.

Harry grinned at him. “Yes, you are.”

“Zayn won’t be picking me up this time, I guess.”

That brought up the events of the previous night to their memories. Harry saw Louis’ face darken.

“Hey,” he put a hand on Louis’ arm affectionately, “whatever that was about, I’m sure it’ll pass. He didn’t seem mad, just… worried.”

Louis looked down at his coffee cup. “I’ll try to apologize to him at school if I see him.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Louis finished his breakfast and got dressed for work. He was at the door not long after, but something kept him there, looking at Harry.

“Are you staying here till I come back?” Louis smiled sweetly.

“If that’s okay with you… Adel is at some bachelor party anyways, so he won’t return until the day before the wedding.”

This sparked something in Louis’ eyes.

“Oh! Okay.” He turned to go through the door, but then turned to Harry again at the last second. “Do you, um… Do you want to go eat somewhere later on? We can go to that pub you took me to or… I don’t know, wherever you like really! I-I mean… It’s not gonna be a good bachelor party for you at all, but…”

Harry blushed and smiled at how Louis started saying a bunch of incoherent sentences. He was nervous and excited, and Harry was endeared.

“I think that sounds wonderful,” he interrupted. 

Louis turned a deep crimson color.

“Great. I’ll be here at around four, then. And we can get out of here at… seven, maybe?”

“I’ll be waiting.”

 

Louis would have preferred to stay in the apartment with Harry, but it was also the last day before the "Grease" show, and he knew the kids needed him more than ever. He wasn’t sure why he was doing this for those children anyways, since they wouldn’t even remember him once he put everything the way it was.

If he did, that is.

It was scary the way new “memories” came back to him, memories that he was sure he had never experienced before. Him having dinner with that Dean guy that was supposed to be his boyfriend in this life, for instance. Or him teaching a different class of kids how to form harmonies. Sometimes he would have a sudden flashback to a familiar face, when at the same time he was convinced he had never seen the person before in his life.

He was becoming a new Louis, and that scared him.

He still had memories of his life before the fountain, such as laughs with the lads, or lyrics of a song… But those wouldn’t be enough for too long and he knew it. And if anything, his fight with Zayn yesterday had speeded up his “transformation” process.

The only thing that was truly holding him down to who he really was, was Harry. 

But even so, his memories of his married life seemed blurred sometimes. And that scared him the most.

The public bus finally dropped him at the school and he made his way to the theater.

Fifty heads grouped all around him, some with questions, others with hugs.

Louis smiled. Even if this wasn’t his real life, he had to admit he would miss them very much.

“Alright, calm down, calm down. One at a time. Andrew?”

Andrew, a freckled boy that ate way too much sugar judging by his hyperactivity, lowered his hand after being called upon.

“Peter said he won’t be here tomorrow, Mr. Tomlinson! What are we gonna do?!”

Louis laughed as more voices repeated Andrew’s voice. “We’ll just look for a replacement, that’s all. No need to worries! Guys, you need to relax. Tomorrow will be great, you have my word.”

“We thought you wouldn’t be here, Mr. Tomlinson,” said another kid from the back of the tiny crowd.

“I wouldn’t do that the last day of practice, now would I?”

The kids smiled, content. Louis felt a great urge to hug them all really tight, and also a pain in his chest realizing he’d have to leave them behind at some point.

“Where’s Harry, Mr. Tomlinson?”

Louis turned to the small voice that asked the question. It was Amelie, her green eyes staring right at him. The rest of the students lowered their voices, and some nodded in agreement with Amelie’s curiosity.

“He’s at home. He’s getting ready for his pre-wedding party,” Louis replied. Some kids cheered and others clapped, making Louis blush, so he quickly added: “He’s marrying a rich clothes designer, kids, not a theater teacher.”

The kids fell silent. Louis swallowed.

“How about we practice it one more time, and then we watch a film to relax, yes?”

The kids did not move.

“But you love him, Mr. Tomlinson,” Amelie said.

Louis’ eyes got watery as he gave his class a half-smile.

“I do, yes.”

“Then why don’t you marry him?” asked Andrew, truly confused.

“It’s because he doesn’t love him back, you idiot,” said Nicholas, one of the older kids.

“Oh, thanks for the honesty, Nicholas, I appreciate it,” Louis chuckled. 

Then Amelie spoke again. “But Harry does love you. I’ve seen it. He was looking at you and his eyes had a spark.”

Louis turned red. Amelie was truly quite a perceptive girl.

“Since when did this class turn into a bunch of Cupids?” He joked, getting giggles from the group. “Come on, up on the stage. You know the drill. Where’s our Sandy? Come on, you’re up.”

The kids obeyed, not without exchanging knowing glances.

 

Just like Louis, Harry also had to take the public bus later to get to the tailor shop. It was around noon though, so it was not as packed with people.

Next thing he knew, he was standing in front of a mirror, staring at his reflection, and the shop owner, Alfred, was measuring his waist and legs to get the last refining touches on his suit.

The suit Harry had picked for the occasion was a white, high-waisted jumpsuit from the Gucci brand. It was perfect in itself, but it needed some adjustments to make Harry’s figure stand out. Harry would have preferred it even more if it had a pattern on it. Flowers, maybe. But Adel had been very specific on his instructions, and he wanted it all plain white so it would match the decorations. Harry wouldn’t be surprised if his fiancée had sent letters to the guests telling them to wear white too. 

“Good,” Alfred said, removing the ruler and needle from Harry’s clothes, “I think I got your measurements just fine. You’ll look radiant.”

Harry beamed at him.

He hadn’t been paying attention to whatever the old man had been saying before he finished measuring, because he was distracted with the prospect of eating with Louis. Among all the insecurities he had, Harry was sure of one thing only: he really wanted this date to arrive. It wasn’t a real date, of course. It was a bachelor party, just… without dancers, or crowds of friends, or clubs.

_Who am I kidding? It’s obviously a date._

A friend date, though. He was allowed to have friend dates before his wedding. That was not cheating, right?

Harry decided he would stay there until the suit was fully finished. That only took Alfred about fifteen minutes. The old man was very effective when it came to his job, and that’s why harry had always picked him over the tailors at the modeling firm. When the suit was completed, he tried it on one more time and posed in front of the mirror.

“It’s splendid! Thank you.”

“Anything for a great client, Mr. Styles. Or… should I call you ‘Mr. Weber’ now?”

Harry’s heart sank for just a fraction of a second.

 

_“I told you, I don’t want a bachelor party,” Harry repeated for the millionth time that evening._

_“But we threw a party for Louis,” Niall protested. “It wouldn’t be fair, H.”_

_“Niall’s right,” Zayn said. “Don’t be a bore, Harry, come on.”_

_Harry shook his head amusingly. They just wouldn’t shut up._

_It had been a long day of picking flowers and dishes for the small wedding he and Louis had planned. Liam, Niall, Zayn, and even his mom had been begging for him to have a bachelor party before the 28th but Harry wouldn’t have it. He just wasn’t the party person._

_Louis’ party had been two days previous, and even though he didn’t exactly approve of the way his fiancée had arrived home that day, he was glad he had fun at least._

_“But,” Niall continued, following Harry, “it’s tradition! The groom gets a party, and since we have two grooms in this occasion, you both should get one.”_

_“You just want an excuse to party two times, Ni.”_

_Niall chuckled. “That’s not true. I can do that with or without wedding.”_

_“Niall!” Zayn exclaimed, hitting the Irish lad in the arm._

_Niall frowned. “What the fuck, mate?”_

_“Don’t jinx it.”_

_“Jinx what?”_

_“The wedding! There will be no ‘with or without’ it, just it.”_

_Niall laughed._

_Then the door of the hotel room they were staying at—always touring, always jumping from one place to the other, Harry thought—opened and Liam and Louis walked in. They had been discussing other wedding-related things downstairs, Harry guessed. Louis smiled bright at the sight of Harry and threw his arms around him, planting a deep kiss on Harry’s lips. Harry held his jaw and kissed him harder._

_“Ugh, get a room,” Niall laughed._

_“Where do you think we are, Niall?” Louis said, not untangling himself from Harry’s neck._

_“I mean as in another room. A room where we’re not watching this display of affection.”_

_“About that,” Louis said. He then turned to Harry. “I got us a nice table at the restaurant downstairs. Payno helped...”_

_So that’s what they had been doing._

_Liam smiled at him._

_“And,” Louis continued in a lower voice, “I also got us a separate room away from these pests.”_

_“Oi!”_

_“I thought you wanted us to move to another room, Nialler,” Louis winked._

_“Mmm are we planning on getting cozy?” Harry whispered in Louis’ ear, knowing it would make Niall, Liam, and Zayn gag a little._

_Louis continued the joke. “Ooh yes. I’ll make you scream my name so hard, they’ll hear it all the way down to the lobby.”_

_“Alright that’s enough,” Liam interrupted, pulling the laughing pair apart._

_“I’ll have nightmares now,” Niall added. He was smiling fondly though._

_Even though Louis called it a “bachelor party” for Harry, it didn’t feel like one at all which was what Harry loved about it. They spent the night at the restaurant’s reserved section, away from other guests. Everything had been planned, Harry realized. The waiters knew exactly at what time to bring each course and at what time to leave them alone. Louis did not even have to give orders to them. That’s how much Louis had been thinking about the whole thing._

_“I’m not gonna lie,” the blue-eyed lad commented during dessert, “I’m nervous as fuck, Haz.”_

_Harry looked at him in the eye._

_“Me too. But it’ll be worth it.”_

_“Of course it will, love,” Louis smiled. “I wouldn’t spend the rest of my life with anybody else.” Then he added, in a dramatic tone: “Mr. and Mr. Tomlinson.”_

_Harry blushed._

_He loved him so much, he wanted to scream it right then. Yes, the road ahead looked bumpy and hard to travel, especially given that they were not openly gay yet… But right then all of his senses were clogged, just like every time he was with his husband-to-be. Right then all he needed to survive was Louis._

 

Harry shook his head in front of the tailor’s mirror to shake off the odd feeling that got into him, but it just wouldn’t go away.

_Harry Weber sounds awful._

He nodded his thanks to Alfred and took the white suit.

_Really awful._

Then a pair of bright blue eyes calmed him down… 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for supporting this story, I can't believe there's only FIVE chapters left!!!!!!!
> 
> Harry keeps remembering things without realizing it dsfhdgfsshds and.... at the same time, Louis is forgetting things!! D: they better move fast before their week is up...
> 
> See you next chapter!! :)


	14. Accumulating Untold Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!!!  
> We're back to where we left, Louis and Haz are gonna go on a "FrIeNdS" date, and well...  
> The title of the chapter says it all.....;)

When Louis returned to his apartment at around four, just as he had promised, he found a note on top of the kitchen counter apologizing to him for leaving the front door unlocked (Harry had taken the keys just in case) and telling him that Harry was at his own house getting ready for their little rendezvous. It was signed in beautiful cursive writing, “Lots of love, H.”

Louis stared fondly at the paper and pressed it to his heart.

It was really happening. He would have a date—even though that’s not what they officially called it— with his Haz, after all this time.

He opened the closet in his bedroom hoping to find a suit. There was one at the back, probably meaning he had only used it once tops. It was a standard black one, the black tie around the hanger. 

This will work, he though.

He still had about three hours till seven, but he decided to start getting ready from then.

He had to look his absolute best.

 

Harry felt he would explode from the amount of butterflies in his stomach. He didn’t know if that was a good or a bad sign… He was clearly trying his best to impress a man that wasn’t his fiancée and the worst part was that he did not feel guilty in the least. Adel was having fun before committing to marriage, therefore he could, too. 

And who could blame him for wanting to have a good time with someone as splendid as Louis? It wasn’t as if he had deep emotions for him, right? At least not that he admitted. 

His bedroom was full of different suits he had arranged for dinner, none of which pleased him at the moment. He needed something radiant, but meaningful as well.

He finally found the one he was looking for. He smiled as he prepared to take a shower, the suit hanging by the door.

Tonight was going to be perfect.

 

Louis was showered, perfumed, dressed, and the only thing he was still not able to do was form the damned knot around the tie.

He remembered how when he married Haz back in the real world, it was Liam who helped him get the tie right. And even then, his sister Lottie had to fix it later, a minute before standing by the altar. There was, in short, no way he could get it right alone.

“Alright, fucker. Stay like that,” he said to no one in particular, taking the tie off his neck and buttoning his shirt without it.

He stared at himself in the mirror. He hadn’t used a suit in ages. 

Just when he was about to try the tie again for the fifth time, there was a soft knock at the door. So soft in fact, that he could have missed it… had it not been for that sweet scent of roses he adored.

He opened the front door with a smile.

Harry stood there beaming, wearing that white suit with the red roses pattern he had used at the fashion show, the first time they had met in this alternate reality. What stood up the most in him, however, wasn’t the beauty of the suit, or not even his sparkling green eyes. Instead, Louis’ glance fell directly to Harry’s lips, which were painted red to compliment the roses… Louis was speechless at not just his beauty, but also his courage to finally paint his lips as he pleased, something he was still struggling with in the real world. His smile was perfectly framed, and Louis had to contain himself from kissing the love of his life right then. If he loved Harry before—and God knows he did—all those feelings were magnified.

“Is it… too flashy?” Harry asked timidly after Louis stood quiet for what felt like hours.

“Harry. You are the most beautiful creature that ever walked on this planet right now, and I hope you know that.”

Harry blushed a deep shade of red that almost matched the lipstick.

“And you are the sweetest,” he smiled.

Harry took the arm Louis offered and both made their way to Harry’s car waiting for them at the foot of the building.

 

_“And… Open them,” Louis whispered in Harry’s ear, making his shiver._

_Harry did as he was told, and found the hotel room entirely decorated with fairy lights, making it seem like a Christmas tree. He opened his eyes wide in awe._

_“This is amazing!”_

_“Glad you liked it, ‘cause Payno and I almost burned down the carpet with these.”_

_Harry turned around and gave him a peck on the lips. “It’s perfect, honey.”_

_“Well, allow me to lead the way then…”_

_Harry took his arm._

 

They parked the car and Louis walked around it to take Harry’s hand, like a true gentleman. Harry accepted but frowned when he took a look at the restaurant they were walking towards.

“Is something wrong?” Louis asked confused.

Harry shook his head and stared at him.

“I’m… scared.”

He looked down as soon as he said it, and Louis raised his chin with a finger. Somehow he knew what was going on in Harry’s head without him saying it out loud.

“If Adel is who you’re worried about… You don’t have to do this, Haz… I can accompany you back to your house. I won’t be mad.” _Sad as fuck, yes._

“No, no, I...,” he swallowed and then continued, “I’m scared because I want this.” It was a whisper but that’s all it took. The only reason Harry was holding his feelings back was the morale of him being someone else’s fiancée. Louis would respect that, of course, but at least he now was sure Harry did feel something for him. Louis smiled gently and took Harry’s hand to his lips, kissing it just a little.

Without saying much else, they made their way to the restaurant.

 

The man inside took Louis’ name from the list and guided them to their table. 

“You reserved us a space and all?” Harry asked as they climbed up the flight of stairs behind the waiter. 

“I did, during class. The bachelor deserves the best seats,” Louis winked.

The spot Louis had reserved probably cost a fortune, and Harry’s heart flipped a bit just thinking about how important this must be for Louis too. He wouldn’t spend so much money if Harry wasn’t someone special.

Their table was near one of the balconies on the second floor, where there weren’t as many people present. The lights were dim, and the view was breathtaking. And on top of it all, there were some fairy lights…

_“You’re going to make me trip,” Harry laughed as he walked backwards toward the bed, Louis guiding him while kissing his cheek._

_“You’re clumsy either way.”_

_“Oi!”_

_Harry fell on his back on top of the mattress._

“Harry?”

_Louis came down on him, his shirt already half-way off. All he could see was Louis, surrounded by fairy lights…_

“HARRY!”

Louis’ voice brought Harry back to Earth, back to the restaurant table that both he and the blue-eyed man were sharing. Louis gave him a questioning glance.

“Are you okay, Haz?”

That nickname again…

“Y-yes, sorry. I was thinking about… stuff,” he smiled trying to make it seem less important. Louis wasn’t convinced however. Harry tried changing the topic.

“How are the children doing? The show is tomorrow. I would be nervous if I were them.”

Louis chuckled. “You shouldn’t be. Your singing voice is amazing, for real. But the kids, yeah I think they are nervous. Maybe that’s good though, to keep them awake. But they’re brilliant students, really. I have no doubt the show will go down perfect.”

Harry could tell how much Louis loved his class. Even if he wasn’t as open about it, Harry could tell he did just by the subtle changes in his voice, or the light crinkles by his eyes.

_He really loves kids. What other wonderful, irresistible feature do you come with, Louis Tomlinson?_

As it turned out, “many” was the answer.

Throughout the meal, Harry fell deeper and deeper into that enchantment his friend had. That enchantment he was missing in his fiancée…

_It was that day by the pool again, just the two of them, spending the day in each other’s company._

_Those blue eyes, marked by wet hairs, smiled at Harry as both went underwater, holding their breaths but at the same time letting it all go in an embrace…_

Harry came back to reality, this time holding on to the side of the table in a way-too-obvious manner.

“Haz, you clearly don’t feel well,” he heard Louis say, “Let’s take you to your house, have a cup of tea…”

“I… I’m so sorry…,” Harry apologized, a hand to his head. 

Louis was by his side in a matter of seconds.

“Don’t apologize, silly.”

“I’m feeling better now.”

“Like Hell you are. Come on, I’ll help you up.”

Harry knew that allowing Louis to hold him by the waist as they carefully went down the stairs to the lobby was a bad idea. His touch sparked something in him that he couldn’t quite explain… Just like he couldn’t explain how those dreams he had been having followed him even to his awake state. The images of “memories” that didn’t belong to him flooded his head all the way to the car.

Louis got him inside the vehicle, on the passenger side. He then sat down behind the wheel.

He was going to start the engine, when Harry surprised them both by putting a hand on Louis’ knee. The blue eyes looked up.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Harry said. “I just felt odd for a second… I ruined it…”

“Harry. Look at me. You didn’t ruin anything. It was wonderful, even if short.”

Louis made as if to start the car, but didn’t turn the key. There was something bothering him too. And if Harry was right, it was the same thing that was bothering himself.

There were just so many feelings between them, so many things left untold. Harry was going to marry Adel in two days, yet he was there right now, with Louis, a million different things passing through his mind. They just couldn’t deny the connection they had since the day at the fashion show. Maybe it was the same connection Zayn and Liam felt… Or maybe it was a mixture of old teenage feelings that Harry managed to dig up from the past. Maybe it wasn’t love. A part of Harry wished it wasn’t, because it would mean things wouldn’t get out of hand. 

But they did. They were already out of hand. He was infatuated with this man, and maybe just a teeny tiny bit in love…

Harry’s body acted on its own accord.

Before he could stop himself, his hand grabbed Louis’ neck and pulled him towards him, clashing their lips together.

Louis placed his hand by the side of Harry’s neck, kissing him back sweetly.

A million colors and feelings all tumbled down on him, and Harry forgot about everything else. Suddenly there was no doubt: in just a few days, he had fallen for him.

 

Louis was not sure how he had managed to drive the car back to his apartment with Harry clinging to his neck the entire drive. He was seeing the stars by the time they got out of the lift right in front of the flat. That entire time, it seemed like the only two seconds he was able to breathe was while he unlocked the front door. After that, their lips touched again.

He pressed the model to the nearest wall and moved from his lips, down to his chin, and then to his neck, just below the jaw. Harry gave a little moan before grabbing Louis by the hairs for support. 

Louis separated from Harry’s skin for a moment, allowing them both to catch some air.

“Don’t stop,” Harry groaned. “I have no idea what you do to me, but I like it.”

Louis chuckled. “I’ve been wanting this for a while, believe me.”

“Me too, I think…”

Louis remembered that time he and Liam had filled the room with fairy lights for Harry’s “Bachelor Party”. This was very similar. Harry was again the bachelor, except this time Louis wasn’t the husband-to-be. Harry didn’t seem to care much about that detail though. 

Louis kissed the green eyed man slowly now, guiding him towards the bedroom. Harry moved clumsily but determined. He wanted this as much as Louis did.

When Harry’s head was lowered slowly and carefully on the pillow, the images of Louis surrounded by fairy lights on top of him came back to his head. This time he did not try to shake them off however. He allowed himself to be submerged in that wonderful sensation only this man gave to him.

Louis positioned himself on top of Harry and the latter helped him get the shirt unbuttoned. Then Louis did the same for him. Little by little, more items of clothing fell to the floor, until both lovers were in boxers, hips rocking against each other.

Harry felt himself get rapidly hard through the fabric with every single touch. This was so different than when he did it all those times with Adel. Back then it was simply sex, but now every touch sent shivers through him, every kiss meant something new… 

Louis’ hand moved down Harry’s side all the way to his hips, where he started massaging the skin there in circular motions. His hand then trailed even lower, massaging the boy’s inner thigh.

Harry let out a small groan. The same force that made him kiss Louis in the car now made him feel Louis’ length though the fabric of the boxers. Louis broke the kiss with a moan of pleasure as Harry kept exploring this man’s wonders. 

“That… is rude,” Louis joked. His voice cracked at the last second, as the curious hand slipped inside the boxers.

“What’s rude is you giving me massages in a time like this,” Harry laughed. His hand moved at a faster pace.

“Ah…Alright, okay, I’ll stop… Fuck…”

Harry let Louis’ hand slip under him and pull down his underwear. He raised his hips so the last piece of clothing on his body came down to his knees. The chilly air hit his hardness and he hissed a bit. Soon Louis was also fully naked on top of him.

Louis suddenly stopped the display of affection and moved toward the bedside table, opening drawers and cursing under his breath. Harry laughed amusingly.

“I don’t even know where the fucking condoms are,” Louis laughed in his defense.

“Try the drawer in the bathroom maybe.”

Louis gave Harry a small peck on the lips before storming out to the adjacent bathroom. Harry thought the scene was a bit funny, Louis desperately looking though his stuff.

“I’m not going anywhere, you know,” he called from the bed, receiving a chuckle in response.

After a minute or so, Louis finally came back into view, the small packet in one hand and a bottle of lube on the other.

“Ha! A miracle, I found the little shits.”

Harry brought him down to bed once more, everything resumed where they left it. 

They allowed their hearts to trot at light speed. By the time Louis got his hands oiled and ready, both men were panting.

Louis was always careful with Harry, and the latter one loved him for that. Unlike Adel, Louis wanted to make this night all about Harry’s pleasure above his own. Harry could tell the blue-eyed man would have entered his length inside him if he could, but instead he took his time, prepping Harry slowly and passionately. 

Harry’s grip strengthened around the pillow when the third finger came in. He winced a little.

“I got you,” Louis whispered. “Tell me if it’s too uncomfortable or something.”

Louis’ fingers opened inside him, along his walls. Harry had never experienced being this thoroughly fingered before… It had always been straight to the actual intercourse with the clothes designer, and whenever he had done it to himself, it was nowhere near as good. Louis seemed to be looking for something almost. He kept exploring Harry’s walls while also opening his fingers to get Harry used to the stretch. Then Harry’s legs twitched, and Louis’ lips curled up a little after apparently finding that spot he was searching for. Louis’ hand didn’t move too far away from that spot, his fingers restlessly moving, Harry’s legs twitching constantly.

“I’m…read…y…,” Harry moaned. Louis smiled at him. He slowly removed his fingers and leaned down to kiss Harry’s forehead. The sudden emptiness made Harry feel odd.

Harry stayed resting on his back, looking up at the ceiling, while Louis skillfully dealt with the condom.

When Louis positioned his body back on top, Harry gave him an encouraging smile. He removed some of the dark curls from those green eyes and leaned in to the boy’s forehead again. Louis then caressed Harry’s cheek… and his blue eyes fell down to Harry’s shoulder. Adel’s crude nail marks were still barely visible. Louis glanced down at Harry’s abdomen, where the fading hint of those ugly purple bruises had been. He then locked eyes with the man under him, and he could see Harry understood what he was looking at.

“Haz,” Louis whispered in that loving tone he reserved just for him, “Don’t let me fully control you… Don’t be scared to tell me to stop if anything.” He was going to leave it at that, but then added: “You can trust me. I _will_ stop if you want me to, I promise.”

Instead of the usual “I love you” that Louis was used to getting from Harry, the lad’s green eyes filled with tears and their lips pressed together. Maybe it wasn’t said in words, but Louis knew the act meant just the same as the phrase. 

Not separating their lips, Louis started pushing in with care. After the first slow thrusts Louis knew he would have to go just a bit stronger to bottom out. He broke the kiss and pushed in harder. Harry held on to his shoulders and hissed, exhaling. Once Louis was fully inside of him, Harry gave a weak nod.

Making love had never been more satisfying. Harry felt pain at the beginning, obviously, but it quickly turned into never-ending pleasure. He closed his eyes every once in a while, a few tears escaping here and there.

Louis kept a strong pace, making sure to completely fill Harry each time. He then instructed—not ordered, but suggested, more like—Harry to shift his position just a little bit on the mattress. Harry did as told and Louis resumed his movements. The simple shift made Louis hit that same spot he fingered inside of him. Harry’s legs twitched in coordination to them both.

“I think… I’m…”

“Just do it, babe, I got you,” Louis reassured him again. Just his voice was enough.

Louis soon released his load too, groaning and breathing hard. He pulled out cautiously, making Harry groan as well.

They stayed embraced in silence for a while, until their breathing calmed down. After that, Louis helped Harry get himself cleaned up, and then they returned to bed.

They talked the rest of the hour, until Harry fell asleep on Louis’ chest. For the first time that week, Louis was completely content. He had his home right there between his arms. Nothing else to worry about right now. He forgot every one of his problems.

He was so happy, in fact, that it didn’t even matter he no longer remembered who Niall and Liam were. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh-oh Well there goes Louis D:
> 
> At least Adel is kinda off the picture now
> 
> And poor Haz, he has a mess of memories in his head right now aw
> 
> WE ARE CLOSER TO THE END!!! Thank you for sticking up for this story so far, i love you all <3  
> See you next time.... Let's see how it all starts to end.....


	15. Starting New Lives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back, hello :D
> 
> Let's see how Teacher!Louis is doing today....
> 
> Enjoy!!! <3

Waking up in someone else’s bed was not nearly as odd as Harry would have imagined it would be. Everything felt, in fact, like it was supposed to feel, almost as if he had been with Louis his entire life.

His first thought was to call Adel as soon as breakfast was over and tell him that would be no wedding. It was the only thing that was “right” at a time like that. 

_I cheated on him_ , he kept saying it over and over in his head.

True, it was similar to that time he had found Adel and that female model snogging each other’s faces off at the back of the modeling studio… Except Adel was arguably drunk at that time. Harry had given Louis his full consent about this.

Either way, Harry recognized he did not love Adel any longer. His heart now belonged to the blue-eyed, pointed-cheekbones theater teacher by his side.

 

Louis opened his eyes and smiled. A pair of green jewels stared back at him, submerged in the bed sheets. 

“Good morning,” he greeted as he leaned in and stole a kiss from the man next to him. Harry answered back the gesture, grinning. They both wished they could stay like that the entire day.

“I’ll call it off,” Harry then said, taking Louis by surprise. When he saw Louis’ frown, he elaborated: “The wedding. I won’t marry him.”

Louis kissed his forehead.

What had he done to deserve this?

They kept each other company while preparing the table and had breakfast. It was a big day ahead of him, Louis knew. The school play, Grease, would be that evening. He had to encourage the children and prepare them for their first big performance of the year. He was as nervous as those kids were, though. Maybe a bit more, since he had coordinated the whole thing. The other teachers had been hesitant when he proposed Grease as a school play for little students, but after eliminating any kind of mature content, they accepted. He still could see them judging once in a while, which was why tonight’s show had to be perfect.

His morning was already perfect, at least.

“Are you gonna talk to him?” he asked taking a sip of coffee. 

“Yeah,” Harry said. “No point in pretending now. He’ll hate me, that’s for sure. I might lose my job even, but I gotta get away from that relationship. I should’ve done it a while ago, really, I just didn’t have the courage before. But… I’m sure now,” he smiled at him.

Louis took his hand across the table. “We’ll make it.”

Harry pressed his hand harder.

“I know.”

 

Going to work that day was the hardest thing he’d ever done. He hated leaving Harry alone. They stayed together until the car reached the school gates, yet they couldn’t say goodbye yet. 

One of the kids in Louis’ class spotted them from the sidewalk and giggled, to which Louis blushed and broke the kiss, Harry laughing. 

“Well. They won’t leave me alone now,” Louis chuckled. “They were all rooting for us apparently.”

“Oh were they? Smart class you got there, Mr. Tomlinson.”

“Very smart,” he said as he opened the car door. “Are you coming to see the show?”

He knew what the answer would be, but he wanted to make time.

“Of course I will,” Harry said. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

“See you there then,” Louis winked. He blew a small kiss to him before closing the door and directing himself toward the school. Harry drove away.

Louis’ heart was racing as he jumped his way through the hallways, causing many people to turn their heads in amusement. He was the happiest man on the planet.

He barely noticed when Zayn bumped into him. The English teacher had an apologetic expression in his eyes. Louis stopped smiling. They had both ignored the other since their argument the past Wednesday. Now that Louis thought about it, it was the longest time they had spent without acknowledging each other.

“Hey,” Zayn nodded awkwardly.

“Hey.”

A pause.

Zayn seemed to be digging deep for something to say, but the words wouldn’t come out.

“About that night…”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Louis interrupted. “Honestly, it’s fine. It was a stupid fight anyways.”

Both friends smiled a bit.

“I was a terrible friend back there though,” Zayn sighed. “I should have tried to listen to you, even if what you said still makes no sense.”

Louis chuckled humorously. “Now that you’ve mentioned it, it really doesn’t.” Zayn frowned at him, confused. “This week has been… weird,” Louis continued, staring at his feet. “If there’s a person who’s been an even worse friend than you, that’s me. But everything is falling back into place now. I feel better, and I’m sorry for being a complete mess these last few days. I’ll make it up to you.”

Louis was suddenly hugged tightly out of nowhere. He put his arms around his friend too. When they pulled apart, both were smiling bright.

“Are we good then?”

“We are,” Louis replied.

Zayn walked next to him to his class. They walked slowly, even if the tardy bell had sounded a minute ago. The world could wait; the two friends needed to catch up with a few things.

“So you and Harry finally got together!” Zayn laughed and pushed Louis teasingly. “It was so obvious you two were hitting on each other.”

“Oh shut up,” he blushed. “You flirted with him in these same hallways, you little shit.”

“He is too gorgeous in my defense,” Zayn laughed. Then he stopped. They were right outside the theater doors. Zayn’s brown eyes sparkled. “Although you were right that day. Harry wasn’t my type.” He waited for Louis to catch up, but since he didn’t get the reaction he wanted, Zayn tried again: “I met up with Liam yesterday. We didn’t do anything, mind you. But we went to the café down by the plaza. God, he’s amazing. He gives me those fucking… butterflies, you know? It’s so fucking weird…”

“Who?”

Zayn stared blankly at him. “Liam. Remember Liam? He was that friend of yours you introduced to me at your flat the other day.”

Louis nodded now. He had forgotten about the quiet police man completely. “Oh, got it. I wouldn’t say he’s my friend though, but yeah I remember him. Congratulations! He’s fit.”

Zayn gave him another blank stare, but then decided it was better to shrug it off.

“Thanks. Get to class now, we’re late.”

“See you around, Z.”

With that, Louis opened the theater doors. 

Instead of the normal chant the students always received him with, he was welcomes with cheers and clapping. The kid that had seen him kiss Harry in the car was in the middle of them, grinning. Amelie seemed radiant and clapped hardest of them all.

“So are you gonna marry him after all?” a small boy asked above the crowd of voices.

“Woah! One day, maybe,” he laughed.

The cheers did not feel like they would die anytime soon so he raised his voice to call their attention.

“WHO’S EXCITED FOR THE PLAY TONIGHT?”

A chorus of voices rose up again. “Alright, let’s get going! We have lots to do.”

Theater teacher Louis Tomlinson was truly having the time of his life.

 

Harry stared at the phone for hours.

He was back in his house by the river, sprawled across the couch, waiting for the phone to ring. He had tried calling Adel a million times, and left multiple messages. After some time, he accepted that maybe Adel was at some party or club, enjoying his bachelor party, so he left a voice mail begging him to call him back. He would have preferred to talk face-to-face with him, if only he weren't so far away at the time.

As the minutes passed, his stomach contracted more and more. He might have been sure about his courage in the morning, but now he felt like throwing up.

The phone rang on the coffee table by the sofa. Harry jumped at it and pressed “Call”.

“Harry, what the hell is going on?”

Harry swallowed. Although he tried to stop them, a few tears clouded his eyes. Leaving your entire life behind was harder than he thought.

“I-I’m so sorry…”

“About what? What happened? Harry, answer the damn question!”

“I won’t marry you,” he whispered.

The line on the other side was silent. A whole minute passed.

“I’m sorry, I…”

“Is it him?” Adel interrupted. Harry knew he was referring to Louis.

He nodded, but then, recalling Adel wouldn’t be able to see him through the phone, he said: “Yes.”

He was waiting for an outrage to come on the other side of the line. What he got as an answer instead took him completely unprepared. Adel’s voice, though annoyed, was fairly calm.

“I mean… You can still sign the deal.”

Harry’s vision went dark, blurry. He laid back on the couch. He thought maybe he hadn’t heard correctly.

“We don’t have to be wedded if that’s what you prefer. Just agree to the terms, and we can move on like nothing happened.”

Harry was feeling sick. Louis had been right about Adel.

When he spoke again, he could barely recognize his own voice.

“Was that all that mattered to you?” It came out cracked, but Adel caught it just the same.

“Come on, Harry. Don’t act as if I’m the only monster here. I’m not the one cancelling our engagement because of a one-week fling.”

“That one-week fling just stopped me from making the biggest mistake of my life.” Harry tried to sound calm, even if the feeling of having been used for profit all this time was a sharp knife to the heart. “For the record. You were an incredible man when I first met you, Adel Weber. Too bad you let the money get to your brain.”

Harry waited for a reply. After a minute, the line of the other side went dead.

 

After a long day of rehearsing for the play, Louis said goodbye to his students and returned to the theater, making sure everything was as it should be for that night. 

He checked that the costumes were there, that the floor was thoroughly marked for the children to know where to stand, and that the curtains opened and closed properly. It all seemed to be in order.

It was later than he usually got out of class, but, the play being that day, he thought it wise to check the lights too. 

As he walked down from the stage though, he spotted a figure sitting on one of the nearer rows. A brunette man, of about his same age. His eyes, blue like Louis’, warmed up when he saw him, and the man’s lips curved into a smile. There was something very familiar about the man’s face, but Louis wasn’t entirely sure…

The man came up to him then and embraced him. Louis, more out of courtesy than anything else, hugged him back. 

“I just came to say that I choose to believe you,” the man said. He had a stronger accent. Irish, probably.

“Um… I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else, mate,” Louis said.

The man frowned and then laughed. 

“I mean, about the whole alternate universe thing. I know, don’t ask me why, but I want to help you.” Since Louis was still confused, the man added, his smile fading away slowly: “It’s me, Niall.”

Louis recalled someone else in his house that Wednesday night. Slowly, the events of that crazy night came back to him: Niall, who he had met at the fashion show, Liam, the police guy, Zayn, and Harry. 

_God, I was so drunk that night._

“That’s right! Niall. I suck at remembering faces, I apologize.”

“That’s okay, mate.”

Before Louis could question him about what exactly he meant by “helping Louis”, the doors of the theater opened again and another figure walked in. He knew that was Liam, since he talked about him with Zayn not too long ago.

“Whatever. You can count on me too,” Liam said. He was out of breath. He probably ran to catch up with Niall. “Now, it doesn’t mean we believe in magic, it just means you’re our friend and we respect that.”

“Where do we start?” Niall smiled.

That had to be one of the craziest nights in his entire school career.

“What… are you talking about?”

Niall and Liam stared back at him, maybe thinking he was joking. The truth was, however, that Louis did not even remember how exactly he had met these two men. He just knew they were at his flat that week. Why did he let two strangers in his house anyways? 

_I was waisted, it’s gotta be._

The man called Niall broke the silence.

“About the wish fountain, man. You told us you have to unmake the wish so you and Harry would be married and all that. And… And the boyband thing. That’s still weird, but I’ve always wanted to be in one, so I can’t lose really.”

Louis waited a few seconds and then broke out laughing. What the fuck were they talking about?? A boyband? Him? That’s not something he heard anywhere. And saying he was married to Harry was way too far of a stretch… Yes, he really liked Harry. Maybe even more than just “liked”. But they had only met a week ago…

He waited for the two strangers to join him in laughter, but they looked at each other, worried.

“Are you okay?” Liam asked.

Louis stopped snickering. “I am, are _you_?”

“What??”

Louis had enough. He pushed his way through the two men toward the exit. The checking of the lights could wait. Right now, he needed to go back home away from these weirdos.

Liam caught his arm on his way out though. Louis was flipped around.

“Was all of that a joke or something? That is not funny, Louis!”

Louis freed himself from the grip, his face red. 

“Look, mate. You got the wrong Louis, clearly. Touch me again, and I’ll call school security.” He knew it was a poor defense, since the man’s arms were three times his own.

“What are you talking about? You begged us to help you, asshole!”

Niall stayed toward the back, staring at Louis as if his words had just shattered his heart to pieces.

“Louis… I thought we were friends, so…”

“Well, you thought fucking wrong, Neil.”

“It’s Niall.”

“Whatever. Get out of here, you two. It’s past school hours.”

Niall and Liam fixed their eyes on the back of Louis’ neck as the latter made his way out of the room. 

That was an unexpected encounter. He had a story to tell now.

Putting on a smile, he walked out of the school, where his daily driver and best friend, Zayn, was waiting inside the car. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for hurting any Nouis/Lilo feels :(   
> The week is about to end and Louis lost his mind :'(
> 
> See you on the next update!


	16. Next to You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update, loves!! Thanks for waiting :)
> 
> It's the night of the school play!!
> 
> There's a lot of confusion in Harry's mind in this chapter, so pay attention to when the paragraph is in _italics_ ,which means it's a memory.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

_It was unbelievable how fast their fame had grown in the course of months. The lads felt like it was yesterday when they were the third place at the X-Factor, sad for not winning but also hopeful that people would still listen to their music. Looking at the growing crowd gathered before them now, they knew people had clearly not forgotten them. One Direction was a growing sensation, and they had barely even started._

_A young Harry waved at the fans, the screams intensifying. He walked over to where Louis, Liam, Niall, and Zayn were, all smiling and waving as well. He spared a quick glance toward management, behind the cameras._

_Maybe they wouldn’t see him…_

_He stood next to Louis and put a hand on the lad’s waist. He caught Louis grinning at the corner of his eye._

_The camera flashes continued. Harry looked over his shoulder at the table with chairs facing the audience, right behind him. Soon the five of them would be sitting in those chairs. He also noticed there were no name tags…_

_“Psst,” he called to Louis. The blue-eyed boy acknowledged him with a slight nod, but kept looking at the audience. They knew they were being watched. “Where do you wanna sit?”_

_“I don’t know,” Louis hurriedly said, “next to you.”_

_Oops. Maybe they were too loud…_

_“You can’t sit together,” someone from the management team shouted behind the camera._

_Harry knew that would happen._

_They forced their smiles for the rest of the event._

 

_Time passed by…_

 

_There were a group of people Harry didn’t mind getting interviewed by. One of those was James. He obviously knew about him and Louis, so he sneakily made them spend time together on his shows, regardless of what management said._

_For this interview, however, Harry saw the cups arranged already on the table, by the sofa. He knew the cups were possibly there to mark where Harry, Liam, Niall, and Louis should sit._

_He inwardly cursed._

_Harry was the first one to sit down on the couch. He was aware that Louis came right behind him, but he glanced at the cup. Liam was supposed to sit next to Harry then. Louis didn’t catch Harry’s warning glance—or he didn’t care—and sat down next to Harry either way._

_He bit his lip on the inside to contain his fond smile as Louis changed position with Liam’s cup and his. Then Louis stared happily at his rebellious act. He smiled at Harry and James._

_Next to you, it is._

 

Louis received a text message from Harry when he got to the flat, saying he would meet him at the school in time for the play, maybe just a few minutes late. Louis’ first instinct was to ask why, or if everything was okay. However, Harry had just broken up with Adel and called off a marriage, so he probably just needed some time on his own. So Louis answered him with a “Take all the time you need” and a bunch of kiss emojis instead.

Then he showered and started to get ready.

He suspected there was no need to dress too formal, but he also wanted to seem important on the first school play of the year. He finally made up his mind about a fine pair of black trousers and a buttoned shirt. 

He called Zayn later for him to pick him up, since Harry wasn’t there. Zayn was there in twenty minutes, already groomed for the show. 

“You might wanna grab a jacket,” his friend called from the car.

“Couldn’t you text me that before I came down to the lobby?” Louis asked.

“I did, actually. You just didn’t read it. Go, we’re gonna be late.”

Louis rolled his eyes fondly and ran back into the building, racing against time. He took the lift, and stormed to his bedroom once inside the apartment.

“Jacket, jacket, jacket…”

He grabbed the first one he saw hanging in the closet. A very expensive gray jacket he did not even know he had.

“That’ll do.” It didn’t go with his attire at all, but it was the only thing he could find.

He tucked the jacket around his arm and ran out of the room at the same speed he came in.

 

The rush Louis and Zayn were in to get there on time was not truly necessary. By the time they both got there—about ten minutes after the original opening time—some students were still missing and the play hadn’t even started. With the nervous air around and those few late students, the backstage of Grease was close to chaos without Louis. Kids were screaming and running around, and others looked as if they would faint at any second.

Everyone calmed down a little bit when their teacher sneaked in from the other side of the stage, closing the red curtains behind him.

“Olivia and Jason aren’t here yet, Mr. Tomlinson,” Amelie said after Louis greeted the young musical actors. 

“We’ll just wait for them, maybe they're just late. I was late, yet here I am.” He reassured her with a smile.

Louis thought she looked extra adorable dressed with her pink jacket and her curls. Her green eyes reminded him of Harry, and he wondered if the model had already arrived and was waiting for him behind the curtains, ready for the play to start.

Fortunately, Olivia and Jason appeared, being dragged by their mothers, not long after. They had their costumes on, but their faces were green from the anxiety building up inside them. Louis exchanged some words of encouragement to the whole class, hoping to make them, or at least the majority of them, relax. 

He then took attendance for the second time, confirming that all of the young performers were present.

The crowd behind the curtains hushed when the lights dimmed.

It was time.

"Guys,” he whispered to his class, all fifty pairs of gleaming eyes staring back at him, “whatever happens today, whatever tiny mistake you make on that stage, if you do, I want you to just laugh it off and keep going, okay? It’s okay to mess up, it’s normal. So don’t feel bad if you do.” They nodded. “The most important thing for me today, right now, is not whether the play comes out right a hundred percent or not. It’s if you have fun. I want you to go out there and sing and have fun, understood?” Their nods were much more enthusiastic this time. “Let’s do a ‘good luck’ group hug, come here. Group hug, group hug!”

The kids all crowded around him and around other kids, and for a moment Louis thought they would all trip and break through the curtains.

After almost being suffocated by children, Louis made his way to the front of the stage, where he was received by claps from the audience. The theater was packed, except for a small space toward the side. With his quick survey of the room, Harry was still nowhere to be seen.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you so much for coming here tonight. The kids and I have worked extremely hard to make this play happen. I’m sure many of the parents in the audience wanted to kill me when they saw what play we’re adapting tonight.” Many in the audience laughed, some nodded amusingly. “But I promise you, the only thing this show and the actual Grease have in common is that I love them both dearly and both are equally amazing. This one is maybe even more amazing, honestly.” The audience clapped in approval. “While we kept some of the usual characters and storylines, I guarantee you all mature content was replaced. If not, I wouldn’t have a job right now. So ladies and gentlemen, I present to you our kids’ adaptation of Grease!”

Louis went back to seats down below, as the red curtains opened behind him. The audience stopped clapping as soon as the first two kids came out. They were dressed as Sandy and Danny, the backdrop presented a beach at sunset, and they were received by multiple exclamations from the people.

Louis sat down on the nearest empty seat he found, watching the performance. 

He was not fully concentrated on the play, however. His eyes kept checking his watch and the empty seat by his side. 

 

Harry was not feeling well. Again.

These last days had been an unhealthy mixture of feeling sick and in love, and the break-up with Adel made his head explode even more. Not because he felt sad about it, or angry. Yes, his heart was still heavy with the words spoken on the phone, but that wasn’t really the source for his dizziness. 

It was the memories. 

Were they memories even? Harry had not lived through them, if that was the case. At least, he didn’t think he had. Maybe they were someone else’s. But then, why was he present in all of them, with Louis? Those images of them making love in a fairy-light-filled room… Or of them in the pool.

It was the same thing that happened to him yesterday at his dinner date with Louis. One minute he was overloaded with the love he had for the blue-eyed man, the next he was overloaded with these dream-like scenarios. Now, when his feelings for Louis were clearer, the images were clearer as well… His love for Louis was triggering something within himself that he was scared but also intrigued about.

He knew he was extremely late—as in, a whole hour late—for the Grease play he had promised he would attend. There was nowhere he would rather be than there with Louis, watching the kids perform. And so, although a terrible idea with a headache like that, he managed to get dressed and get the car going.

Harry was behind the wheel, his head being pierced with a hundred daggers...

_“I’ll get the dagger, and you get the rose,” a young Louis said. “That way we’d be matching.”_

_Harry nodded, grinning. “I’d love that.”_

He came back to reality just in time to stop in front of the red light. He received curses from the other drivers as they passed by. He rested his head on the wheel for a second, before the light turned green again and the drive resumed. 

He was so late...

_“We are late, you idiot, hurry up!” Louis called to him from the hallway. Both of them were running toward the stage, where they would probably be scolded by management for not being there on time._

_“Use those long legs, Harold!” Louis laughed, looking over his shoulder._

_“In my defense,” Harry said, “I don’t practice footie. I’m out of breath.”_

_Harry followed that high-pitched laughter in front of him. They were so in trouble._

Harry shook the image away at the turn of the street.

The lights reflecting themselves on his rearview mirror suddenly transformed into fairy lights…

_Louis kissed the top of his head as they laid cuddled among the blankets, the lights making everything more magical. Harry could feel Louis’ nakedness against him, their breathing slowly calming down after the love making._

_He had a clear view of the dagger tattoo Louis had on his arm, and he smiled to himself as he realized he was that dagger’s rose._

Harry parked the car on one of the slots available outside the school.

Finding the door handle and getting out of the vehicle was harder than he imagined it would be. He felt as if he just got out of a rollercoaster. His legs trembled as he composed himself and straightened his light green suit. He swallowed and started walking toward the front door.

He remembered his way to the theater pretty well by now, yet the hallways had started to seem unknown to him for some reason.

He was finally standing outside the wooden double doors. He could hear the music coming from the inside...

_Harry gulped at the sight of the wooden doors in front of him, and the ceremonial music that had started playing on the other side._

_Behind that door, the love of his life was waiting. Once he crossed that door, he would be only steps away from becoming Mr. Tomlinson._

_He looked nervously at his stepdad by his side, who smiled at him and gave him a small thumbs up._

_His stomach and heart both jumped excitedly as the doors opened and everyone’s heads turned around to face him. As they had accorded, it was a small ceremony, very private. But still important nonetheless._

_Louis was radiant besides him, more radiant than Harry had ever seen him. Among the best men, Niall, Liam, and Zayn winked at them both._

_Everything was just as Harry thought it would be: perfect._

 

Louis was truly worried now. 

The play was about to end, and Harry was still nowhere present. What if something happened to him? 

Louis took out his phone, making sure the brightness of it was turned down so as to not bother other theater-goers. He looked for Harry’s contact and started typing when the double doors at the entrance of the room opened. He couldn’t see well from there, but when the doors closed again and the figure was not against the light anymore, Louis smiled.

And then his smile disappeared when he saw Harry take a hand to his temple.

Something wasn’t right.

 

Harry awkwardly waited for Louis to meet him midway to the stage, to the side of the seats. Even though he tried signaling Louis to not stand up, the shorter lad did so anyways, walking up to Harry with a worried expression playing in his face. Louis was obscured against the lights coming from the stage behind him, but they were so close that he could still make out every feature if he concentrated hard enough on driving his dizziness away.

“You look like shit,” Louis said with the same worried eyes.

“Thank you, you’re so sweet,” Harry chuckled. Louis sighed.

“I’m serious. You didn’t have to come if you felt sick, Haz.”

They had to whisper due to the few annoyed glances they were starting to get from some parents in the audience. Louis gave one of them an apologetic smile before turning to Harry again.

“Did you talk to him?” he asked. Harry didn’t need him to elaborate to know who he was talking about.

His blood boiled after remembering that conversation he had with his now ex-fiancée.

“I did.”

“And?”

“You were right. He was a gold digger.”

The harshness with which he said it surprised even himself. Louis stared at him sadly in the dim lights, at loss for what to say. After a short uncomfortable silence, where the voices of mini-Sandy and mini-Danny were heard, Harry cleared his throat.

“It’s fine really. Let’s go find our seats.”

“The play is almost done anyways,” Louis said, his hand reaching out to him. “Are you sure you don’t want to go back? Get some rest?”

“No, no… I’m fine. Just…,” he looked behind him and found the last few seats available by the side of the theater. Then he turned back to Louis, poorly hiding how badly his head was crashing down inside of him. “W-where do you wanna sit?”

“I don’t know,” Louis let out a sigh. “Next to you.”

That was the last straw. 

Whatever was holding the pieces of his head into place erupted. Suddenly the dreams were not feeling like dreams anymore; his imagination started to come to life. Not even “started”, because it all happened in a second or two. There wasn’t time to start anything. The memory of Louis answering those same words to him in front of the cameras and of the management team forbidding them to show affection… And then the repeated images of a wedding and a day at the pool… And then himself, singing in front of thousands, next to his friends. His friends. The faces of Liam, Niall, and Zayn, next to that of his love, Louis, all flew at light speed in his brain. 

Soon the memories were too many to even attempt to understand them all, so he just let them rush by.

The events of this past week also flashed through, and now he understood. He understood why he had that strong bond with Louis since the beginning. He understood why he had insisted on him spending time with Niall, Liam, and Zayn. 

He understood mostly everything.

He remembered.

The last thing Harry saw before his vision clouded completely, was a pair of bright blue eyes—his husband’s eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY, HARRY!! IT WAS ABOUT TIME!
> 
> Ahhhhhhh so close to the end, im so excited!!!!!!  
> See you on the next update <3


	17. Through Better and Through Worse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello i'm back <3  
> Enjoy :)
> 
> PS: Unrelated to this fic whatsoever, but y'all need to listen to this song I found the other day, "Sinners" by Lauren Aquilina, and pay attention to the lyrics, because it is so Larry I'm crying, JUST DO IT
> 
> Ok, back to the fic

Harry’s eyes opened for a fraction of a second before he had to close them again. The bright white light of the room blinded him.

His head still pounded a little.

He thought he was in a hospital at first, but when he opened his eyes again and the green jewels got used to the brightness, he saw he was lying in a comfortable bedroom, lined with a desk and pictures on the walls, facing the side of a window. It felt vaguely familiar now. By the brightness filtering through the thin curtains, he could tell it was around noon, at least.

Harry sat up slowly on the bed.

It was Louis’ apartment. The one he had no idea how Louis acquired since they were both married and lived in the same home as far as he knew.

The events of last night at the theater slowly hit him, each slap leaving him more and more confused.

_What the fuck happened…_

Suddenly the door of the room opened and a caramel head popped up, hurriedly going to where Harry was. Before he knew what was going on, two arms hugged him tightly around the neck, dropping him back on the pillows. The weight of the petite figure was so familiar to him that he just smiled among all the confusion and held on stronger than ever.

“I love you, I love you, I love you, I fucking love you,” Louis said, his voice all in a mumble due to the multiple kisses he started pressing all over Harry’s face.

Harry laughed and returned the kisses, all messy and all over Louis’ nose, mouth, jaw, and eyelids. 

“I remembered everything again, thanks to you,” Louis rushed out between the kisses. “Fuck, I almost ruined it for good. But I’m fine now! I’m not a teacher anymore, fuck yes.”

_Woah. Okay._

Harry needed an explanation to, well… everything! He wanted to understand how he and his husband ended up watching a kids’ theater performance, first of all. And also, how in the world anything from Sunday on happened. 

Still laying on his back, Harry raised Louis' torso by the armpits, separating their faces a couple of inches. The blue eyes were shinning above him.

“Louis William Tomlinson. What the hell did you do this time?”

“It’s actually quite a long story,” Louis chuckled, blushing a bit. 

“We’ve got all day.”

“Uh… we don’t…”

“Louis…”

“Okay, okay! I’ll explain. Buckle your seatbelts though, ‘cause it’s wild.”

Harry frowned at him with a mixture of confusion and amusement. Louis lifted his body from Harry’s, and the latter accommodated himself against the pillows. Harry sat down, his back against the back of the bed, and instead of sitting next to him, Louis faced Harry and sat down on the man’s midsection, as if he were ridding him. Harry instinctively put his hands on Louis’ hips. He threw a reproachful look at the blue eyes facing him.

“What?” Louis tried to sound innocent. “I want us to be comfortable.”

“Right. This sexy position means you’ve fucked up and don’t want me to be mad at you,” Harry chuckled. “Especially since you’re acting like the bottom one.”

“You know me so well,” Louis winked. Harry wasn’t playing however. He looked at Louis with the same glance a mother would give a bad-behaved child. 

“Alright,” Louis sighed. He got off Harry’s lap and sat down beside him instead. “You can sit on my lap, if you want…”

“Louis!” Harry crossed his arms in front of him.

“Fine! Fine.”

Louis got off the bed and searched for something in the closet. He returned later with a grey jacket that Harry had seen him wear many times, but that he couldn’t connect to whatever was going on. They sat down facing each other, Harry waiting impatiently.

“When we had that fight at the fountain,” Louis started, recalling their screaming and Harry’s crying with a knot in his stomach, “You threw a coin for me in it. I… I wished I had never…”

Even now he couldn’t repeat it. Harry obviously remembered what Louis wished. To not have met Harry. It had been an accident though, and Harry knew it. Louis would never mean something as horrible as that. But the words still hurt, even if they had no meaning. He grasped Louis’ hands tightly in his.

“I know, I was there,” he whispered.

“I’m so fucking sorry, Haz, you know I would never,” Louis looked up at him. His eyes were sincere and watery. Harry truly believed him.

“I know,” he smiled weakly. “So, what happened then?”

Louis took a deep breath. “Well… Let’s say your ‘magic’ mumble-jumbo was actually real. It… came true. Don’t ask me how, but that stupid fountain made all of this happen. The band is gone, you and I aren’t married… I’m a theater teacher, hence the Grease play last night. And you are a model, which is not far from the truth”—Harry rolled his eyes—“Li is a police man, and Niall… to be honest, I don’t know what the fuck Niall is, but he’s cool. And Zayn! Zayn works with me for some reason. That… That’s all some crazy shit, Haz. But you’re gonna have to stick to my story. All good?”

Harry nodded even though he was still shocked to even fully grasp the concept of it all. He knew Louis was not lying, but he still couldn’t believe it. Louis continued.

“Not meeting you also led to the band never being formed, is what I’m trying to say. Anyways. I’ve been trying to get you to love me again this entire damned week because I thought that would lead you to remember our real word, and it worked at the end! I mean, you’re back.”

Harry rested his hands on Louis’ shoulders, who was starting to talk at a very fast pace.

“Relax, baby. Deep breaths.”

“Sorry.” Louis breathed again and calmed down. “As the week passed, I kept forgetting about who I really was, but you kept bringing the memories back… I wasn’t a singer anymore at the theater last night, Haz. I was, like, an actual teacher, and if it weren’t for this jacket I don’t know if I would have returned to my normal self in time to repair everything.”

Harry arched his eyebrow incredulously.

“The jacket?”

“Oh. Yeah,” Louis said, raising the grey jacket he took out of the closet a minute ago. “I had this one on that day at the fountain. I had it on at the theater, too. When you fainted, I rushed to get you and this fell out of its pocket.” Louis took something out of the pocket of the jacket just as he was telling Harry this. The blue-eyed man took Harry’s hand gently and opened it, dropping a small, golden object on his palm. 

It was a wish-coin, from The Duchess Hotel.

“That helped me return to my normal self. Well, mostly. Seeing you faint also kinda helped,” Louis explained. Harry thought he was done talking, but then Louis added: “You’re the only one that can help me put everything the way it was, Haz. I can’t ask for a second wish, but you can ask for a first. We have until midnight. That’s like… ten hours from now, so there’s time. But the sooner, the better.”

“Where did you get that info from?”

“I’ve been doing my research,” Louis grinned. They waited a moment in silence, Harry trying to process everything he just heard. Then Louis’ hand rested on Harry’s thigh. “Are you mad at me? I mean, you have all the reason to be…”

There was a pause.

“Why would I be mad?”

“For causing all this mess.”

Harry smiled sadly at him. “It wasn’t just you, Lou. I was fighting that night, too.”

Harry thought about the reason for their argument, about why they had snapped like that. And the truth was, now that he analyzed it briefly in his mind, Harry came to the conclusion that maybe he had pushed Louis too hard with the topic of coming out. Coming out of the closet wasn’t something he was supposed to have planned for an exact moment, at least not when two people were concerned. He was disappointed at Louis for not wanting to be free, when in reality, Louis wanted it more than anyone. It’s just he was not ready yet. So yes, Louis did mess up. But maybe he hadn’t messed up as bad as Harry in this case. He should have respected Louis’ decision instead of driving them both into a fight.

Sighing, Harry turned to look through those ocean blue diamonds Louis had for eyes.

“We don’t have to come out yet if you’re not ready,” he said. He pronounced each syllable with care, letting Louis know he meant it. “I’m sorry I pushed you on that. That’s wrong. You were right that night, I was thinking about what I wanted and not what you did. We can wait. I’ll wait for you forever if that’s the case.”

It was a short, probably useless apology. Harry tried to elaborate but the words wouldn't come out. He inwardly chuckled at how bad both he and Louis were at apologies. _One more thing in common._

Luckily, both he and Louis were also fairly good at understanding each other without needing many words.

Louis’ eyes were suddenly glassy with tears.

“You would that for me? I don’t want to hold you back, Harry.”

“Shhh I told you, we do this together or we don’t. I’ll wait.”

Louis smiled fondly, his eyes still watery, and leaned in to steal a kiss.

“What are we supposed to do then?” Harry asked after lingering over Louis’ lips a while longer. “To put it all the way it was?”

Louis stared at him, grateful that too many explanations weren’t necessary with Harry. This man would go to the end of the world for him—just like Louis would. He did not have to try to convince Harry of anything, he just knew when Louis was telling the truth, and right now he was. Louis smiled at this, knowing that his husband believed him and was fully ready to help.

“We gotta pay another visit to The Duchess.”

 

They held hands for the entire drive.

When they found themselves staring at the front of the hotel’s façade, they held hands.

They held on to each other with such force that Louis thought he would lose his fingers for a second.

They were scared. What if this did not work, what then? Would they have to adapt to this new lifestyle, forget about the band, about all the memories, and just create new ones? It seemed like it.

“It’ll be alright,” Harry pressed Louis’ hand harder in a comforting manner, even though his face told Louis he was just as terrified as he was.

Taking a deep breath, the husbands entered the building.

The Duchess was never-changing. In the three visits he had given to the hotel, Louis always found everything exactly as it was the previous visit. Going back in there felt like going into a loop, or a dream: everything repeated itself, even the people that passed them by seemed to be the same every time. The only exception was the old lady at the reception desk that gave them the wish coins on their first visit with the band. She wasn’t there now. 

They got into the lift and the stupid elevator music filled their ears. Louis saw Harry’s face turn paler as he watched the numbers of the floors increase until they were at the very top of the small hotel. 

The doors opened.

There was one more flight of stairs before the terrace.

“Let’s go.”

Louis pushed open the door and the cold wind from the outside hit them in the face. The terrace was empty of visitors. The view was as beautiful as it had been that night at the party, where their fight started. The only difference was that it was nighttime back then, and now the bright sun greeted them instead of the moon.

And there it was, on the same spot Louis left it.

The fountain. Also unchanging, on a loop.

Louis took the golden coin out of his pocket. It glimmered in the sunlight. Harry extended his hand and Louis placed the coin gently on his palm.

“Not to put pressure on you,” Louis said, “but our entire future from this point on kind of depends on you right now.”

“Wow. Thanks, honey. No pressure at all.”

Louis laughed. Harry turned towards the fountain, but Louis spun him around once more. He gave him a peck on the lips.

“Whatever happens, Haz…We’ll stay together through it all, right?”

“Of course. We don’t need to be in One Direction for us to be together. It’s just…I really want to do this right. W-what if I mess it up even more, Lou?”

Louis thought about that, and he couldn’t deny it: that would suck.

“Just concentrate on what you want. What you really want.”

“What I want,” Harry said, “is to have our lives back. But I also want us to be happy. And, well…free.”

There was a moment of silence. The words struck him like a train.

He knew what Harry meant. Life as a band had been—still was—a blessing. So many good things came out of that band, that in fact they outnumbered the bad things by a long run. The lads, the fans, how the band helped them and their families financially, how it allowed them to follow their dreams of singing, how it inspired millions of people around the world… Those were only some of the things that nothing could ever replace that One Direction had given them. And not just the band. All of those memories—the good ones—that they shared with Liam, Niall, and Zayn, and all of the memories of their marriage… All of those things would be lost over time if they stayed in this alternate universe. Harry and Louis didn’t want to lose those things.

But there was also the cost of having them to consider…

Let’s face it, Louis thought sadly, they would never be completely free in the real world. Even if they came out of the closet at some point, they were still celebrities. There were rules, management teams, stress… Yes, the band did wonders. But it also took something from them and they knew it. Back there, they would have to hide their marriage from the public again. They would still be unable to adopt children and start a family until they were able to sort that case out. They would have to go back to stunts and babies and whatnot for a while. 

Louis thought about Niall, Liam, and Zayn. What was in store for them? With the exception of Niall maybe, who would clearly prefer his life in One Direction over this one, Zayn and Liam were doing pretty well. Zayn’s anxiety was visibly more controlled here than in his celebrity form. Liam was way more serious here, true, but he was starting to come out of his shell, and apparently getting really well with Zayn again. If they put everything the way it was, then Zayn would barely talk to them and any chances of something happening between Liam and Zayn again would crumble. Just like Louis and Harry, Liam and Zayn had more freedom here than anywhere else.

Louis looked up to meet Harry in the eyes. Inside that ocean of greens he saw future and happiness. He saw potential. He saw himself in those eyes, too, surrounded by two or three kids and Harry, proudly displaying a wedding ring on his finger, dancing around with their kids. Their kids. Adopted or not, Louis would love them with his entire heart. He also imagined their new home, full of colors and flowers just like Harry wanted. He imagined the door bell ringing and him opening the door to find the other lads, this time with Zayn, just like the old times. They would have a nice lunch together, as a family. His own family, the one he and Harry would create. For once he truly understood that was true happiness. Home. 

Louis could have that anywhere, he realized. Even if it took a hundred years, he knew that both he and Harry were destined for that future somehow. In either one of the realities they chose to be in, Louis knew they would stick together and get there. Through bad and worse, good and better.

So he closed Harry’s hand around the golden coin and took the hand to his lips.

“Whatever you choose,” Louis told him, barely above a whisper, “is the right choice. This is your wish, Haz. It’s not for me to decide what you want to wish for. As for us, we are indestructible, love. I’m with you, whatever happens.”

Harry’s eyes were watery, still scared. 

“I don’t know what to do,” Harry said in a weak voice. He gave Louis a small smile that the latter returned with a chuckle.

“All you have to do is toss a coin and make a wish, darling.”

Harry gave a slight nod and let go of Louis, the coin still in his hand. 

Louis observed how Harry walked slowly toward the fountain, probably thinking of all the pros and cons as he moved.

It took him a minute to reach the border of the fountain, and another minute for Harry to finally make up his mind.

Louis waited as his husband tossed the golden coin into the magical waters.

He closed his eyes and exhaled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, readers! Next update will be the last I'M CRYING OKAY
> 
> Haha of course I made Louis remember again, im not that heartless lol
> 
> And what should Haz wish for, exactly? There's many pros and cons on both sides...
> 
> Thank you all for reading and supporting this story <3 See you next update for the conclusion of this fic! Bye bye <33


	18. Closure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok. This is it, this is the end. I'm happy but sad at the same time hahaha  
> Ok, I'll just leave all the 'thank you' and sappy messages at the end and let you read :')

Just like when Louis wished to not have met Harry, Harry’s wish didn’t come true right away. They had to wait until the next morning. And the waiting was killing Louis with anticipation.

He did not question Harry about what he wished for, not even once. That was a thing between him and him only. Louis was still incredibly curious and nervous, obviously. After all, his entire life could change after midnight.

They didn’t do much those last hours of the day. They went down for lunch at the hotel’s café and then went back up to the terrace. They stared in silence at the passing cars, at the sky changing colors above them. Then dinner, and then the terrace again. It was a monotone day. A monotone day with a lot of nerves building up toward the end.

Nighttime came earlier than Louis expected.

They were both still up there in the terrace, the night sky clouding over them, none of them eager to move.

Harry sat down at the foot of the fountain, on the floor with his back resting on the fountain itself. Louis copied him and then laid his head on Harry’s shoulder. Both blue and green eyes closed, hoping to fall asleep sooner than later. They knew they shouldn’t be there so late, but since no one came looking for them, neither objected.

They stayed resting on the cold pavement of the terrace, wondering what they’d find tomorrow.

 

Louis was awake, but did not dare open his eyes. He just let the sun warm his face, shining red through his eyelids.

He had woken up a few minutes ago, his face resting against the now warmer pavement of the terrace.

He knew he was in the terrace, there was simply no mistaking it. He could feel the texture of the floor through his fingertips, very different from that of the hotel room. And he was scared of what that meant: Harry had chosen to stay in the alternate reality. Otherwise he would have ended up back in the room’s sofa, where he had fallen asleep before any of this happened.

He did tell Harry to choose what he thought was the right thing, and Harry obeyed. Louis was not going to be mad at him. He wasn’t, in fact. But he was nervous and scared. He would have to adapt to a whole new life now. No more concerts or interviews, but plenty of more freedom.

But maybe that wasn’t how it worked… Maybe he was back after all…

Taking a deep breath, Louis opened his eyes.

It was hard to adjust to the sunlight at first, but there was no denying it. He was in the terrace.

Louis stood up slowly and looked around.

“Harry?”

His husband was not there with him, which made him wonder… He doubted Harry would have just left him there and gone back inside the hotel, but that’s what it looked like.

Confused, he walked to the door and entered the hotel, climbing down the stairs until he reached the floor with the elevators. He was torn between using the stairs to go down to the cafeteria—the only place he could think of trying to find Harry in—or using the lift. He finally opted for the later one.

Inside the elevator, he looked at his reflection on the walls of the box, covered by mirrors. Sleeping up there on the terrace had given him somewhat of a sun tan, which favored him. But the rest was nothing short of disastrous. His clothes were dirty, his hair was everywhere, quite literally, and his neck hurt tremendously because of the bad sleeping position. If only his pillow hadn’t left in the middle of the night for no reason…

Louis unfastened the shirt he was wearing, revealing part of his collar bones. It was hotter than usual inside the lift, and the box seemed to be taking decades to reach bottom. Just as he unfastened the third button down, the lift doors opened.

But Louis didn’t come out of the lift… He continued to stare at his reflection, tracing a spot lower than his collarbone… There seemed to be something written there.

_It is what it is._

His heart stopped all of a sudden as he processed what he saw.

The people that entered the lift after him soon ran out of there when he jumped excitedly, unable to believe his eyes. He raised the sleeve of his shirt, and a dagger, accompanied by other tattoos, greeted him.

“I’M BACK!”

Louis quickly pressed the numbers on the lift for it to go back up.

How had it happened? He woke up on the terrace, yet he had his tattoos back, which meant Harry wished for everything to go back to normal. Louis’ wish was unmade, they won against the fountain, and the band was back. Louis sighed with relief. What he now wanted more in the world was to find Harry and apologize for being so stupid to almost break their marriage apart completely. 

The elevator doors opened again, and this time a familiar face waited for Louis on the other side.

“Liam!”

“Woah, Tommo! You okay?”

“Just hug me,” Louis threw his arms around Payno. Beautiful, non-police-man Payno.

Liam hugged back, but thoroughly confused. 

“Li, where’s Harry?”

“He went to find you actually… W-what’s going on??”

“Trust me, you don’t wanna know. Where to?”

Liam pointed to the hallway that led up to their rooms, and Louis took march. The dark eyed man stared at the smaller figure running down the hall. When he was about to shrug his shoulders and walk away, he heard Louis’ voice behind him: “You were right by the way! It was our 15th performance!”

Liam chuckled and kept walking.

 

Louis just sensed he was going to find Niall next. Not for any reason, but only because Niall had a tendency of always finding him whenever something—either a fight or a celebration—happened. He was right, though. The Irish man smiled at him across the hallway, and Louis could not stop himself before he threw his arms around him too, in a very child-like way. 

“Yeah, yeah, I missed myself too, Tommo,” Niall joked.

Louis rolled his eyes. “Where’s Haz?” 

“Upstairs, looking for ya. Why are you two in such a rush? We don’t sing today until seven, it’s still early to be all over the place.”

He was about to respond when he caught his breath, a smile creeping in on his thin lips.

There he was, climbing down the stairs at the end of the hall. He was also rushing, and stopped suddenly in his tracks when he spotted Louis talking with Niall. Still dressed in the suit he hadn’t taken off after his fight with Louis that one night, Harry Tomlinson grinned happily and ran toward his husband, embracing him tightly. Louis’ feet left the ground as they cheered and Harry raised him up by the waist.

Niall watched the whole commotion with a grin, although not understanding much.

“So… you two are not fighting anymore? That’s good! I was gonna go look for you two yesterday and force you to make this up, but I see you did it on your own! That’s great.”

“I agree,” Harry said, putting Louis down. He turned to Louis. “Let’s not fight ever again.”

“Even for a loving couple like us, that’s impossible Harold.”

Then, standing on his toes to kiss his Haz on the cheek, Louis took the opportunity and whispered: “What was your wish, then?”

“To not have tossed the coin in the fountain, to not go up there and start a fight,” Harry shrugged. “I thought that would prevent this mess, and it worked! So I think I deserve an award or something…” He closed his eyes as if waiting for a kiss on the mouth instead, and Louis complied amusingly. 

Niall still looked at them confused.

“There are a few changes I’m making, though…,” Harry added. ”I think this past week taught us a few things we need to take care of.” 

Louis gave him a questioning look.

“Haz…”

“What?! I thought it was about time, honestly. It’s been ages. So I called as soon as I woke up.”

“What are you talking a…?”

Louis opened his eyes in surprise as another figure appeared on the hall. He even felt Niall backing away in surprise. The new man came forward but still kept his distance. He only looked up when Niall spoke.

“Zayn?”

Pause.

“Hey,” Zayn replied, throwing a glance at Harry, probably thinking coming here was a mistake.

“Zayn was in town,” Harry explained, “so I told him to come over if he wanted. Thought it would be some great closure, right?”

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds. Louis recalled the last time he had talked to Zayn. It had been years ago, and it was only because they agreed to come to terms after Zayn left the band. Of course, they talked then. But it felt wrong, the tension was still there. The only one who talked with Zayn on what could be considered a regular basis was Liam, and that was still only once every couple of months. Niall sometimes, too. But Harry and Louis hadn’t been so affectionate, which was just wrong, Louis knew. They were brothers after all. They should have forgotten their fights and accept Zayn as he was, and Zayn should have done the same. 

The past week taught both Harry and Louis that. It taught them many things, actually. 

“I can… leave, if…”

“Come here,” Louis walked toward Zayn and embraced him just like he had done with all of the lads. Except this time it was a longer hug, which Zayn returned immediately. The tension seemed to vanish and both men relaxed in each other’s arms. “I fucking missed you.”

He heard Zayn chuckle in his ear. “I missed you too, mate.”

Niall and Harry followed after that.

And then came Liam.

“It’s full of paparazzi down there, I guess we’ll have to wait a bit… Z! What the heck!”

“Get in the group hug, Li,” Harry smiled, pulling the five of them close. Liam instantly obeyed, looking merrier than Louis had ever seen him.

So maybe they weren’t free yet. They were still trapped inside the closet, still with beards and stunts. But even like that, faced with all the hardship of his real life, Louis found no better feeling than having his boys by his side, his husband to spend a lifetime with, and hearing the thousands of screams outside the hotel windows. It was a hard life, yes, but it was where he belonged. There would be time in the future. When he was ready, he would come out to the public. Right now, all he wanted was for that long-awaited hug to last forever. 

 

* * * * * 

Louis could have slept forever if the day ahead wasn’t so busy. But as it turned out, he had plenty of stuff to do. Nothing stressing, though, but busy nonetheless.

It was a very special person’s birthday today, and he had to prepare everything. He would do all that with the help of his beloved husband, so at least they could divide all the work between them. It was an exciting day above all else. No interviews, no shows or performances, no paparazzi following him everywhere… Just him, Harry, and their loved ones.

Being free felt good. Harry and he finally decided to come out of the closet a couple of years back, and now that Louis finally had that freedom allowed to him, he reprimanded himself for not allowing this to happen sooner. But at least he had it all now. Three years after the “fountain incident” (as he and his husband called it) they were finally able to love without restriction.

They had it all.

And they had learned so many things along the way. Louis opened his eyes, still not getting up from bed, and looked around. Their room was so colorful now, just like Harry wanted. The entire house was colorful and full of paper flowers, in fact, and if you weren’t careful enough, you would probably end up tripping with one of Harry’s old furniture, which engulfed the entire home. Fairy lights gleamed above Louis’ head, just like they did all around the house. It was so different from what they had before, but it felt more like Home now than it did in the past. 

And Zayn! There was no more awkwardness between them, obviously. Since that day three years ago when Harry decided to call him, Zayn was there with them along the way, like the old times. They were inseparable now. Louis could also tell how happier Liam and Zayn were now that they were together. They didn’t let go of each other.

As for the band, it kept growing. The hiatus they took years ago had indeed helped a lot, Louis realized. He didn’t know when the band would come to an end, but he didn’t want to, really. There would be a future hiatus, probably. Maybe another year of taking a break from all. But he knew they’d always come back. And in any case, that future break would not be coming for a long while. They were happy like this, they were doing what they loved.

Louis couldn’t have asked for anything better than the life he had right now. 

“Someone’s awake,” he heard the door of the bedroom open and saw Harry’s head poking out. He signaled his husband to come closer, and when the door fully opened, he saw Harry carrying tenderly in his arms Louis’ whole world.

“Even Amelie woke up like two hours ago,” Harry smiled. Louis took the baby girl in his arms.

Their baby girl. She was already turning a year old that day, and it only felt like yesterday when he and Harry finally adopted their beautiful daughter. Well, time went by fast when you were happy, and they were the happiest couple in the world.

 

The rest of their day was perfect. Amelie had her small birthday party, to which only Harry’s and Louis’ family and close friends were invited, making it even more personal. “No celebrity life inside the house”, was their rule. Just them.

Louis could hear the laughter coming from the patio, where Liam and Zayn telling a funny anecdote to the rest of the guests. It was nighttime already, and Amelie had fallen asleep about an hour ago. Louis hoped the chatter outside wouldn’t wake her up as he leaned in and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

He turned to close the door behind him, and found his husband outside the room, with a special fondness in his green eyes that only Louis and their daughter were able to cause. 

“Too much party for you?” Louis asked teasingly.

“Same for you, I see. We’re getting old.”

“That, we are.”

“I’m aging better.”

“Oh shut up,” Louis chuckled, even though it was true. 

“I’m joking, come here.”

He walked toward Harry and dropped himself in his arms. Harry hugged him close.

Over his husband’s shoulder, Louis had a view of the wall displaying all the family and friend pictures, mixed with some music award and old disks. The wall reminded him of a collage of some sort, like a page on a sketchbook. There were so many memories there…

Harry noticed he was quiet and also turned toward the wall. He smiled.

“I wouldn’t change a thing,” he said.

“Me neither.” Louis let some silence fall between them before continuing: “I always think about that week, you know. What would have happened if you had wished to stay there…”

“We don’t have to think about that anymore, luckily enough. In fact,” Harry walked to the small book counter pressed against the memory wall and took out a small wooden box. He opened it and Louis peeked inside: two golden coins, both as shiny as if the years had no effect on them and both depicting the emblem of The Duchess, met his eyes. “Let’s make sure we don’t.”

 

The back porch of their mansion gave way to a small lake. Louis would sometimes find Harry and Amelie playing over there. Right now, however, with the night sky above it, it looked kind of glum and scary. Standing at the edge of it, with Harry by his side, was strange.

“Let’s toss the coin and **not** make a wish this time.”

Louis laughed as he followed Harry’s actions and threw his own coin as far as he could across the lake. It jumped on the lake’s surface a few times before dropping to the bottom.

Louis took Harry’s hand and smiled.

_We truly made it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S COMPLETE NOW! I just wanna say thank you to all of you for reading this story until the very end, and for your lovely messages throughout the story :') You all have made me so happy, I swear <3
> 
> So yes, I did bring Haz and Louis back to their normal lives. Their week in that alternate universe taught them many things, and I hope that paid through! It took time, but at the end they were free :') And they kept that week a secret between them... (did any of u secretly prefer them to stay in the AU? i'm curious now...)
> 
> What was your favorite chapter or scene from this fic? Mine was chapter 4 probably lol
> 
> Idk what to say anymore. Thank you so much. I hope you liked my first story, and hopefully we'll see each other again in other future fics.  
> Please feel free to fill this page with comments, lovelies :') Share this story, re-read it, forget it, I don't know. Do what you please lol Just know that im forever grateful for you all, readers!
> 
> Until some other time, then. Bye bye! <3


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